Donald Duke
Former Governor of Cross River State, Dr. Donald Duke, and other leading stakeholders in the Nigerian tourism sector, will on May 11, 2012, converge in Lagos.
The convergence, THISDAY gathered, is to allow the players brainstorm on the way forward for the industry, which has been receiving increasing attention from the government in recent times, in the maiden edition of an event tagged: Nigeria Tourism Investors’ Dinner.
The proposed event, with a theme: ‘Towards increasing Tourism GDP: Infrastructure Funding and Management Opportunities,’ is being put together by Essential Interiors magazine, an interior design magazine, in collaboration with Palm3 Concepts, a leading Pan African strategic communications firm specialising in Southern and Western Africa emerging markets.
The organisers, in a statement signed by President, Palm3 Concepts, Mr. Ndiana Matthew, expressed regrets that even though Nigeria attracted the largest investment in hotel infrastructure on the African continent ahead of South Africa and Kenya, last year, the nation has yet to tap fully into her huge tourism potential.
“Ironically, this potentially dynamic sector has not been successful in securing incentives for proposed investment,” the statement said. “Funding through the financial sector still poses a daunting challenge as well as the management and new development of key tourism infrastructure around the sub region.”
The statement said the forum, which would provide networking opportunities for senior tourism executives, industry leaders and financiers from around Nigeria and globally, would seek to address the identified challenges, proffer workable solutions and effectively stimulate public and private sector innovation towards increasing the sector’s contribution to domestic GDP.
It also said Duke would give a keynote address, with presentations by speakers of leading companies in the industry.
Led by Ndiana Matthew, the immediate past Regional Director, West Africa for IC Publications, London-based publishers of New African, African Business, African Banker, and six other publications distributed across Africa and the Middle East, Palm3 is set to offer its strong pedigree in marketing to clients.