U 17 World Cup Nigeria and Tourism.

Last week was one helluva week for me. I had so much to do and so little time to accomplish them. Hence I went off your radar. Let’s hope I will be consistent from now on. In view of the fact that Nigeria is warming up to host the world in the Under 17 World Cup, we shall have to rest our discussion on illicit drugs and focus on that event as it affect tourism. Let me welcome you to my land and its’ potentials for tourism.

In just a matter of days, Nigeria shall roll out the red carpet to welcome the world. In less than two days, we shall be playing host to our brothers from all the continents of the globe. Namely Asia, Australia, Europe, South America, North America, to mention just a few. We should congratulate ourselves as a people, you know, give ourselves a pat on the back for pulling this off, why? Despite all the negative publicity, via the news and entertainment media, District 9 inclusive, despite all the back biting by some naïve neighbours, who swallowed the bait of our detractors to pull us down. Nigeria is hosting the world.

We are not new to hosting high level, crowd pulling events, after all, we hosted the world in FESTAC 77 32 years a go where the world tasted firsthand, our hospitality. We equally did invite the world over for another taste of our generosity with football in 1999, tagged Nigeria 99. That is not all; we equally did so a few years a go at the CHOGHM events, a gathering of all commonwealth heads of states and governments in Nigeria. Not to mention the hosting of our African brothers and sisters to the All Africa Games tagged COJA 2003. Therefore, it is not strange to us; the world has been drinking steadily and regularly from our ever flowing fountain of hospitality.

As usual, the world is about to witness a unique way of hosting an event, we will do it the unique Nigerian way. The world is about to be treated to undiluted, unadulterated, pure fun. Welcome! Welcome to Nigeria, the home of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the land that gave birth to John Fashanu, Austin Jay Jay Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo, Akeem The Dream’ Olajuwon to mention just a few. Welcome, have fun!

We have all it takes to leave lasting, pleasant memories in your minds, we have all it takes to make you ask for more, the people, the spirit, the skills, the sites, you just name what is required by a good host for a memorable occasion, and we have got it. Let me flaunt some of the beautiful, breathtaking, heart thumping tourist sites and sceneries that we have got to show the world. Obudu Cattle Ranch, with its electric cable cars, and beautiful sceneries, Tinapa with its beautiful well laid out shopping malls, cinemas, spas and sceneries. Badagry with its’ historic relics of the slave trade era and a stretch of unpolluted beach, Argungu with its fishing festivals and Durba games, Lagos and its’ famous Eyo festivals, Yankari, with its’ game reserves, to mention but a few. Interestingly, these tourist sites are managed by capable hands in the business.

To be concluded.

THE EFFECT OF ILLICIT DRUGS ON THE GROWTH OF TOURISM 2.

Last time we had commenced the discussion on the negative effect of illicit drugs on tourism, today we shall continue in that line. But permit me for not keeping to my usual schedule, I went on official assignment to Ghana via the West Coast and could not really do much. The experience from that mission shall be shared with you all. Hopefully we will not have to experience this often. So let us continue with our discussion.

Already there have been cases of addicted train crews, bus/truck drivers, company managers, doctors, teachers and others in authority who have created dangerous situations through ‘going on a mission’ while on duty.

Not surprisingly, burglaries, mugging, and prostitution mushroom when drugs take root in a community thus making it unsafe, for all and most especially unattractive to the tourist. Other crimes are committed to facilitate drug trafficking. In order to keep drugs flowing smoothly from one area to another, the traffickers try to corrupt or intimidate officials. The effects of drug itself may lead to criminal activity. Family members maybe abused by chronic drug users like we often see on our TV sets.

Activities of drug dealers could make the neighbourhood unsafe for all after dark. Drug is one of the prime causes of crime and violence. Drugs remain one of the greatest generators of terrorism and criminal violence in the world. ‘Drugs are tearing apart our societies, spawning crime, spreading diseases such as AIDS, and killing our youth, and our future’ said Koffi Anan, a former Secretary General of the United Nations.

To be concluded.

THE EFFECT OF ILLICIT DRUGS ON GROWTH OF TOURISM

Twenty six year old Natasha Ashley, eight months and half pregnant, is talking with a female friend on the sidewalk in a section of New York City called Little Italy in the United States. Suddenly a car jumps the curb, hitting both women and pinning Ashley’s left leg against a light post, severely crushing it from knee down. The friend’s leg is also broken. The police found the driver in a drugged stupor in his car, still clutching a hypodermic needle in his hand. He had overdosed while driving. Driving a car under the influence of marijuana or LSD can be every bit dangerous. Drug users make the streets unsafe for all of us including our tourists; imagine Natasha Ashley to be a tourist in our land. That ugly incidence would cast a question mark on our hospitality and our tourism potentials. It could scare away all of her friends who may be intending to visit our land.

A 17-year-old crack addict goes on a robbing spree to support his drug habit. By the time he is apprehended eight days later, he has killed five people and wounded six others. “All of the victims were innocent working people,” noted the chief of detectives.

The above are but a few of the many drug-related incidents that could scare away potential tourists from our country, thus denying us our fair share of the income that could be generated via tourism.

How safe would you feel on the highway knowing that a certain percentage of the other road users have taken a drug that impairs their judgement or reflexes? How safe would a tourist feel on such highways? Would a tourist venture out again to such countries after a near death experience? Also drug users are also 3 or 4 times more likely to be involved in accidents at work. Would you be calm when boarding a bus, plane, or train while recognising that those responsible for your safety may be under the influence of drugs? Would a tourist be calm in such unfortunate life threatening circumstances? Would he readily recommend our tourism destinations to family and friends back home?

To be concluded.

TOURISM INDUSTRY AND OPPORTUNITIES IN NIGERIA 2.

Welcome to Global Tours, a blog where tourism is x rayed and opportunities discussed. Last week we had started the discussion on the opportunities for all of us in the tourism business, we said that opportunities in tourism does not discriminate. Therefore the discussion continues in that direction.

A typical example is the massive investment opportunities opened to all during the construction of the Obudu Cattle Ranch Resort and the Tinapa projects, all in Cross Rivers State, South South geopolitical region of Nigeria. These projects generated massive employment opportunities for various levels of professionals and artisans. The impact was well felt even during the construction stage.

All these activities, whether to create a new tourism facility or upgrade existing ones translate to more employment opportunities, expanding the space for employment and increasing standard of living, thus reducing unemployment and by extension idleness, despair and crime. Hence, making our climes safe for tourists and fun seekers.

Mushrooming from tourism industry are a whole lot of support service providers who are capable of creating employment for countless thousands, and generating income to improve standard of living. Such support services providers include but not limited to the following, travel/tour companies, tour guides, catering services, security companies, car hire services, to mention but a few.

When intending tourists hear that we are investing massively and upgrading our infrastructures and tourism sites, like it is happening in Kenya, Egypt, South Africa and the Gambia despite the global economic slow down, they will visit to feel these facilities. So facilities drive tourists to destinations.

Therefore opportunities abound for all of us, young and old male or female. Therefore all hands must be on deck to ensure that we widen the space, build more hotels, more resorts, more parks, enhance more historical sites across the country. More importantly, enact favorable legislation to enable private capital to take the lead in driving the expansion of tourism. Encourage indigenous investors to take advantage so that profit repatriation could be minimized to the barest minimum.

Concluded

TOURISM INDUSTRY AND OPPORTUNITIES IN NIGERIA

Welcome to my world. The world of tourists and fun seekers. I promised to showcase the enormous but untapped potentials in Nigeria and Africa. That is what I shall do today. The Encatar dictionary defines opportunity as (1) advantageous chance, especially one that offers some kind of advantage, or (2) favorable condition, a combination of favorable circumstances or situations. Hence I am here today to talk about the many opportunities in tourism business in my land Nigeria.

Opportunities abound for all to generate wealth in the tourism industry. Whether we are bourgeoisie/capitalists or proletariat. Whether we are rich or poor, whether we are young or old, male or female. Whether we are rural dwellers or city dwellers, literate or illiterate it does not matter, opportunity does not discriminate, it is all embracing, all encompassing. We all stand a good chance to make wealth beyond our imagination from tourism.

Let us consider the various opportunities that the promotion of tourism could unlock for our collective benefits.

The world over, promotion of tourism is closely linked with massive construction of social/national infrastructures. The construction of such infrastructures requires the employment/engagement of skilled professionals as well as artisans. Hence, a nation that is determined to diversify the source of her national income from petro dollar and tap from the tourism dollar will no doubt embark on massive construction/maintenance of existing or new social infrastructures, such as hotel facilities, resorts, parks, and event centers. This will generate employment opportunities for skilled professionals such as civil engineers, quantity surveyors, architects, plumbers, to name but a few.

To be concluded.

THE EFFECT OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION ON TOURISM 2.

A nation that views tourism as an alternative source of income will have prepared in advance to reduce anything that might get on the way of the forward momentum of the tourism train. Adequate stopgap measures would have been adopted and implemented to check the menace of traffic gridlock and flooding that causes such.


When a tourist visits he wants to be able to move around without too many hindrances, so that he could explore those beautiful tourism sites that we have prepared for his pleasure. But when a journey of twenty minutes turns to two or three hours, as is being witnessed on a daily basis on the aforementioned cities, then it left little or nothing to be desired by tourists and travelers. Incidentally it is situations like this that discourage tourists and fun seekers, it is what also discourage or stunt the growth of tourism. And it further keeps us away from our goal of diversifying our economy by selling our atmosphere, which is what tourism business is all about.


So here is a call to all relevant government agencies saddled with the responsibility of maintaining our roads and drainage system if there is any, to do so without delay. Perhaps, they could put place stopgap measures in the interim to tackle the problem of traffic congestion occasioned by potholes and failed portions of the road. While in the long run, the continuous maintenance of existing roads and the expansion of some vital roads, and of course the construction of link roads should commence without further delay.


Less traffic congestion on our roads, means more tourists, more tourists means more patronage of our tourism sites, more funds for the state and more employment opportunities created via tourism. More employment opportunities, less poverty, less poverty translate to less crime, less crime more tourists. It’s a circle; get the basics right and watch the dramatic increase in the number of tourists.


Concluded.

THE EFFECT OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION ON TOURISM.

The rains are here again, it is its’ season. That season when we all heave a sigh of relief from the scorching heat. Whether there is electricity supply form Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) or not, we now enjoy some measure of comfort, especially at night. At least for some months now that is what we all are experiencing, even in the very hot parts of the country; namely Kano, Yola, Sokoto and Maiduguri.

But as much as we desired, hoped and welcomed the rains, and even celebrated it’s inception, it also come with its’ own challenges. Challenges that if not managed well could erode some of the gains we have made in tourism.

The challenge of unending traffic on our roads, a situation that could turn a twenty minutes drive to two hours, a situation that often left man and machine constantly stressed to the limit and totally exhausted is inimical to the growth of tourism. The vexing trend of traffic gridlocks is virtually on every road in Port Harcourt, Benin City, Kano, Onitsha, Abuja, Jos and especially, Lagos. In Lagos, from Badagry to Epe, from Ikorodu to Apapa, from Apapa to Oshodi, the story is not different, name it, it is the same.

Though some may blame the situation on the rains, but I beg to differ. I apportion some of the blame to all of us, for not in some case clearing our drainages, and for dumping refuse indiscriminately. On the other hand, government should bear the brunt for the pool of river and sorry sight that our high ways and access roads have become anytime there is rainfall. A thinking and proactive government will have taken necessary steps to minimize the incidences of unending traffic occasioned by rainfall, given the cost in man-hour loss.

To be concluded.