Nigeria’s Tour Operators, NATOP Set to Market Unique Tourism Attractions in Ondo
L-R: Mrs. Doris Godson, Otunba Michael Balogun, NATOP President Hajia Bolaji Mustapha, and Mrs. Joy Oziegbe, at the ANJET Breakfast meeting in Lagos, recently.
By Justina Uzo
Ondo State government will be working closely with the National Association of Tour Operators (NATOP) in the country for increased tourist receipts and arrivals to Destination Ondo and by so doing improve on it’s revenue generation from the tourism sub-sector.
The President of the NATOP, Alhaja Bolaji Mustapha said Ondo Destination is saleable, following a recent visit by NATOP executives to the state. The tour operators hope to explore first-hand some of Ondo’s unique tourism offerings, including Idanre Hills and Araromi beach front said to be the longest coastal line in Nigeria.
It’s remarkable that the representatives of the organised tour operators’ even had the chance to eat breakfast on the mountain top during their visit.
Mustapha hinted that
NATOP executives were able to hold a meeting with Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatewa who she said was enthusiastic towards the state hosting NATOP that will be holding their annual general meeting(AGM) in Ondo soon.
“We went round to actually see some of the venues where we are going to be using. We had gone to Ondo Town on familiarization trip as part of our tradition of visiting states to identify which state that we are going to. We try to identify some products and tell the people in charge how they can improve upon the sites, and how they can make them viable for us to sell.
“We went to La Campagne Forest, Hills and Caves in Ondo Town. It was Otunba Wanle Akinboboye that took us there. It was mind-blowing for me, it’s like how can we have this kind of thing and not woo tourists to visit? It is just amazing. Why can’t we promote what we have? Those are the inspiring things for me, to say we work with somebody like him to project those types of projects,” she said.
The NATOP president said it’s important they have also promoted tourism attractions situated in other states across the country and their effort has given boost to domestic tourism which in turn improved on revenue generation for the local communities and governments.
For her, spotlight on the attractions would encourage Nigerians to explore and enjoy the rich tourism assets of the country.
Mustapha expressed this view as the ‘Special Guest’ of the Association of Nigerian Journalists and Writers of Tourism’s (ANJET) interactive forum.
Christened ANJET Breakfast Meeting, the forum made up of Travel journalists and writers of tourism from both the print and electronic media as well as Online publishers, gives them the opportunity to interact with CEOs of the various segments of the tourism industry, national tourism organisations, and state tourism boards as well as airlines and tourism-reliant organizations for excellent reportage and win-win.
The tour operators’ desire to promote Destination Ondo may have informed the decision of NATOP executives to move the 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM), a non-elective AGM, to Akure, Ondo State.
Mustapha agreed. She used the opportunity to thank the state Governor for his support towards hosting the AGM.
“For decades now, we have been promoting a lot of destinations. The impact is coming out now. People are beginning to see and understand those things that we are trying to put out. For our own tenure now, I and the executives, we have been working very hard to identify new tourism sites and promote them to the world, and also advise governments on how we can actually promote them so that people can have more places to go. We identify, and then we make it a product and put it out to the world.”
According to her, “We need to start travelling within the country. NATOP is really working very hard to make sure that Nigeria tourism grows beyond what it is.
In Ondo, we have the Nibalola Resort which is a farm on 500 acres of land, you have a hotel overlooking a lake, golf course and at the same time overlooking a farm which is sitting on a 500 acre and nobody is talking about it. So, that is our job. That is why we have to go out there.” ” Without NATOP,” she said, “we won’t be able to see all these things. It helps us to see Nigeria and encourage Nigerians to move around the country. Moving around, we realized that even as Nigerians, we don’t really know Nigeria. We don’t travel within.”
Mustapha also stressed that NATOP is trying to work with a lot of governments and other stakeholders to tell the Nigerian story correctly. “Let us project our positives to the world so that other people can see the positives about the country,” she said.
Speaking further on the tourism assets in Nigeria and the opportunities abound, the NATOP President said there are some packages that she is selling telling people to come and watch, the beautiful Ilorin Durbar.
“They are showcasing authentic culture. You see where people wear beautiful attires riding horses; It happens on the third day after the Eid el Kabir. The package is Explore Kwara: A Taste of Kwara with GET Centre (Get Centre is Mustapha’s Ikeja, Lagos-based tour company). It will happen around that time. We need to start talking about all these things.”
On some of the challenges that they are have,
Mustapha pointed out that promoting Nigeria as a tourist destination comes with its own challenges. “Some of these sites need to be developed and upgraded. That is why any government needs to work closely with the tourism stakeholders. The stakeholders are the ones that interface with tourists. At the end of the day, when we go, we identify those products and we promote it. You find out that when these places are being renovated or upgraded, they exclude the input of stakeholders which is one major issue that we have. That is one of the things that government needs to look into critically that is working with the stakeholders in the tourism industry.The people on ground need to also know that about the business of tour operation and know that a tour operator is there for business. There is nowhere in the world that a tour operator pays an entrance fee with the guests you marketed to bring to the site. These are some of the things we are trying to educate those in charge of these sites, even hotel owners.”
She added that “Some are beginning to understand that tour operators are actually the ones doing the job and as such give them some discounts. Before, there is nothing like that. We are hoping that we will get more people to work with us.”
