Opinion: Nigerian tourism identity

by Dapo Adesanya

nigeria-tourism

While on the issue of multiple countries, we need to reform our visa issuance service to be tourist friendly. There is no reason why we cannot have a visa on arrival service.

I came across a newspaper feature of the new Nigerian tourism identity (video http://vimeo.com/68630628) and it will be criminal if I do not constructively analyse this here.

The first problem about it is the slogan. Every government comes up with its slogan for our tourism identity. Why the inconsistency? We have a govt agency that manages this and yet there is a frequent change. The need to get it right once and for all is imperative.

I know Nigeria has experienced change since our return to democracy. Nevertheless, a slogan that encapsulates our past, present and future will ensure longevity and consistency. Malaysia’s ‘Truly Asia<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRLdgP9V4J4>‘ slogan was introduced in 1999. Still as powerful today as it was then. Same with India’s ‘Incredible India’ which was introduced in 2002.

The second problem is the website <http://www.fascinatingnigeria.com/>. I stumbled on a website that I think is the official website of this tourism identity campaign. The website looked good but it is useless. What is the point of a tourism website if I cannot book a tour on it or at worst a link to another website where I can book the tour.

This leads me to why this ‘rebranding will never succeed. Already there is a big spat between two ministries over whose responsibility it is to manage tourism issues. One would think it is pretty much an easy answer since we have a Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation. Wrong. The Ministry of Information is muscling in<http://leadership.ng/news/040713/controversy-over-fascinating-nigeria-launch-today> on this responsibility. As if that was not enough, we also have a government agency solely <http://tourism.gov.ng/> to look after tourism related issues. Confused? Now imagine the plight of a tourist thinking of visiting Nigeria. A few innovative solutions to our tourism challenges (in addition to the reverse of the above problems) are noted below.

1. Regional initiatives and campaigns could kick start a national uptake. I know people raise eyebrows for the inherent nature of tribal undertones but successful campaigns for countries as large as ours have started of on a regional basis. A region can be marketed to different groups of people or countries depending on their preference. We should not stop the south west from thriving because of terrorism in some parts of the north.

2. West Africa joint campaign. My brother-in-law has just returned from an adventurous tour of South America. He spent 6 months visiting all countries in that part of the world. To most foreign tourists, let’s face it, Nigeria is not a terrain for foreign family visitors except those with a descendant affiliation or related. Our best bets are the single tourist, the adventurer, like my brother-in-law and business travellers. For the first two categories, they’ll prefer to visit more countries in a single trip. Why not west Africa? From the sandy beaches of Banjul and surrounds through the ancient cities of Kumasi, Ougadogou, Kano, Ibadan to the bustle of Lagos.

3. While on the issue of multiple countries, we need to reform our visa issuance service to be tourist friendly. There is no reason why we cannot have a visa on arrival service. With my green passport I can travel to Istanbul or the island of Bali, knowing fully well I’ll get a visa on arrival. While at it, the arrival queues at MMIA. That’s all I’ll say.

4. Local tourists. It is not uncommon for those of us that grew up in the 20th century Nigeria (Generation X) to have a list of Nigerian cities we have visited. By the time I was 10, I had visited at least 10 cities across the north and south of Nigeria. Contrast that to my sister, of the Generation Y. She has only visited three Nigerian cities, four if you include the university town of Ota. One of the three is our hometown, the second is the town of her NYSC posting and the third is Ibadan on a family function, permit me to add. We have lost (or losing) that local tourism effect. We need to regain it. I’ll suggest that which ever MDA is managing tourism should have a team dedicated to local tourism. The *Fascinating Nigeria* website has a good list of our attractions. We can do better at attracting people to these attractions. Pardon my pun.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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