Hospitality Consultant and Tourism Industry Expert, Olufemi Olowoyo, has urged Nigeria not to allow insecurity to undermine efforts to grow the tourism sector, stressing that security concerns must be addressed alongside tourism development.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Saturday, Olowoyo said the country should find practical solutions to its security challenges while continuing to develop tourism products, improve infrastructure and encourage investment and innovation across the hospitality sector.
“That’s the way forward. Because we have insecurity concerns, then we just shut down the tourism aspect. I think that’s the way I look at it.
“I won’t say we don’t have security challenges. Yes, we have. But there must be a solution to it, Like you just said, infrastructures are very important, you know. Investments and innovations.”
He said security should be incorporated into tourism planning, particularly along tourism corridors where visitors are expected to travel. “But what we should do, like I said, is there should be security for the visitors, those that are coming along the, you know, the tourism corridors, we should provide securities.”
Olowoyo said the government could not be expected to resolve Nigeria’s long-standing security challenges overnight, but should put measures in place to protect tourists and other visitors along key tourism routes. “We cannot say overnight we just want to bring security. The issue that we’ve been having, that we’ve been lingering on for years, we’ll just solve it just before September, make sure that, no.”
He said the Federal Government’s plan to extend the tourism activities associated with the ember months beyond Lagos could help expose other destinations and attractions across the country.
“Because the most important thing is trying to tell the story of the country. Let people know.”
He noted that Nigeria had several tourist attractions that remained largely unknown to the public and said stronger publicity could help bring them into the national tourism conversation.
“Many people don’t know about this.
“They don’t even know that there’s something like that there, you know. So, there are so many tourist centres, you know.”
Olowoyo said attracting visitors would require more than publicity, arguing that tourism destinations needed events and products capable of giving visitors reasons to travel.
“Definitely, there should be products. Especially when we’re talking about this, you know, trying to bring people in for this ember to remember another, there should be products.
“I mean, I believe there should be products, there should be events, you know, in all these, along the tourism corridors, you know, to be able to attract the visitors, you know.”
He also stressed that the benefits of increased tourism would extend beyond tourist attractions, with airlines, transportation companies, hotels and other businesses positioned to benefit from increased visitor traffic. “You know, this thing is cutting across different sectors, you know.
“Take airlines, you know, it’s going to boost sales in the airlines, then transportation and all that, then hotels and all that.”
Olowoyo said the hospitality industry must also prepare to meet the expectations of visitors, particularly as Nigeria seeks to attract travellers accustomed to international standards.
“I always tell people that when guests come into, when they check into your hotel, they have expectations, you say pay 100,000, pay 500,000 per night, they have expectations.
“Are you meeting their expectations?
“Are you exceeding their expectations?
“You know, how do we retain the guests? That’s very, very important.”
He said improving hospitality standards would require hotel operators to focus on service delivery, innovation and technology while building brands capable of competing with international operators.
“Try to see how we can build brands that can compete favourably with international brands.”
Olowoyo also pointed to the importance of infrastructure and investment in developing Nigeria’s tourism destinations, citing improvements at Ikogosi Warm Springs through public-private partnership as an example of what investment could achieve.
“Like you just said, infrastructures are very important, you know. Investments and innovations.”
He further called for greater adoption of technology in the hospitality sector, saying Nigerian hotels needed to keep pace with global practices in booking and guest services.
“In this 20th century, you still go to some hotels, you see them checking in guests with Bailu and Tefa. When, I mean, globally you check in right from your bedroom before you even travel.”
Olowoyo said some Nigerian hospitality brands were already adopting such technologies and urged others to follow suit.
“Some hotels, some of our local brands are already doing this, you know. So we are trying to encourage others also to, you know, emulate these global best practises.”
On regulation, he argued that the agency responsible for regulating the hospitality sector should not also be responsible for training and certifying operators, describing the arrangement as a conflict of roles. “You know, we believe, we agree, yes, federal government should regulate, but the same body that is regulating should not still be the same body that is awarding certificates and all that. You know, it’s also a training institute, You know, it’s not done, you know, I feel there’s so much, it’s not, it’s conflicting, so much power, you know, residing in that body.”
Olowoyo maintained that government regulation remained necessary but should be separated from training and certification functions.
“But that same agency cannot be training and regulating at the same time.”
Erizia Rubyjeana
Follow us on:
