Onyema Urges Tour Operators to Promote Nigerian Destinations

Chinedu Eze

 The Chairman and CEO of Air Peace, Dr. Allen Onyema, has urged tour operators to promote Nigerian destinations to attract international visitors, noting this will not only bring in the needed foreign exchange but it will also showcase Nigeria before the world.

Onyema who made the call at the 5^th Annual General Meeting of Nigeria Association of Tour Operators (NATOP) in Lagos at the weekend, said that Nigeria has too many tourist attractions which potential have not been developed due to the fact that adequate attention has not been paid to them.

“Nigeria should be intentional in promoting its tourist attractions to the world. In the North we have Durbar festival, which is growing in popularity. It should be promoted. When they do carnival in the Caribbean, all of us will be running to go to the Caribbean for carnival. Calabar Carnival and Durbar festival are so beautiful to watch. 

“When you go to the palaces of the Emirs in the North, that is another thing to be sold to tourists. If the government and the private sector can invest into the development of those palaces, they will become money spinners, foreign exchange earners for the country because all you need to do is to set up a theatre-like auditorium.

“Foreigners will pay to come and watch how the Emirs and ministers carry out traditional administration of justice in their domain. People will be willing to pay to go to those palaces to see them and watch culture being exhibited,” he said.

Onyema said some Nigerians tend to de-market the country by creating the impression that the country is unsafe for visitors, foreign investors, airline crew members and tourists.

He argued that while insecurity remained a challenge, the constant projection of fear by some individuals and organisations was damaging the country’s tourism potential and discouraging international businesses.

He lamented the practice had created unnecessary fears among foreign airline operators and professionals visiting Nigeria.

According to him, some foreign pilots, engineers and aviation personnel often demand increased security arrangements before coming into the country because of the negative perception created around Nigeria.

“Let me shock you, insecurity is business for some people. Check out the foreign airlines that are coming to this country. Ordinary cabin crew for these foreign airlines are being escorted by security because they are told, they will be kidnapped. When we bring in pilots and certain technicians or engineers from abroad, they start asking us, ‘where is your security?’ Who will be taking them?”

The Air Peace Chairman said Nigeria needs change the narrative about the country by promoting its positive attributes, rather than continuously emphasising its challenges.

He urged Nigerians to show patriotism and stop portraying the country negatively, saying such actions affect economic growth and tourism development.

He also lauded the federal government’s coastal highway project, describing the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road as one of the initiatives capable of unlocking Nigeria’s tourism opportunities.

According to him, the project would improve connectivity through the country, create employment opportunities and expose the country’s coastal attractions to local and international visitors.