Association of Nigerian Journalists and Writers of Tourism (ANJET) has urged the Minister of Tourism, Ms Lola Ade-John to work towards establishing an agency solely for statistics and data gathering within in order to galvanise growth and development in the industry.

ANJET delegation meeting the Minister of Tourism, in Abuja
The proposed agency, according to the association, would help to unlock the full potential of the tourism sector in Nigeria, in terms if investments, in addition to actualizing the long-stalled Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) project.
ANJET further called on the minister to enable the firming of a grading and accreditation body to harmonise the process of hotel classification and regulation of operations of hospitality establishments in the country.
This is just as the minister, Ms Ade-John informed the visiting ANJET delegation that she has already set up a department in the Ministry of Tourism for data gathering, as she further disclosed of plans to market Nigeria’s tourism assets through virtual reality gadgets, documentaries.
ANJET which made this known in a position paper presented to the Minister of Tourism when a delegation of its members paid a courtesy visit to her office at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, March 7, also congratulated Ade-John on her resumption back to work after a three-month absence occasioned by health challenges barely weeks after her appointment to the office by President Bola Tinubu, last August.
The ANJET position paper jointly signed by its President, Mr Victor Nze and Secretary, Mrs Taiye Olayemi, and presented to the minister noted since the conclusion of the 61st Meeting of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Commission for Africa (CAF) and Technical Seminar for Tourism Statistics hosted by Nigeria in Abuja, in June 2018, which recommended TSAs for African countries, the far-reaching resolutions of that gathering have remained unimplemented by the Nigerian government further stalling growth in the sector.
According to ANJET, a Nigeria Tourism Statistics agency has the capacity to drive growth and development as investors leverage key decisions and projections and outlook on its contents.
Continuing, the association further posited that reports and data from existing statistics agencies in the country were not industry-tailored to meet the demands of potential investors, since they also do not focus on specific market operational details in their various reports.
The association, therefore, posited that creating a statistics agency in the Tourism ministry would serve to create awareness and understanding of the implementation of Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA) which is key to tracking and keeping records of the National tourism growth and development indices, statistically.’
“The Minister needs to prioritize the matter of creating a statistics agency in the tourism ministry to be saddled with gathering essential data on the sector. Personnel to be deployed to this agency could be pulled from the existing two agencies in the ministry.
“Creating a Nigeria Tourism Statistics agency is one of the resolutions agreed upon by member nations in attendance during the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Conference on Africa (CAF) 61st Meeting in 2018, which incidentally was hosted by Nigeria in Abuja.
“Creating a statistics and data gathering agency has now become imperative, which itself is as vital as a standalone ministry of tourism in Nigeria.
“Honorable Minister, without encroaching on the NTDA Act of 2022 signed into law in 2023, we believe that the responsibility for grading and certifying hospitality establishments in Nigeria should not be allowed to weigh down on the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority, as a specific agency can reduce this burden in the NTDA for effectiveness.
“We also, appeal for regular interactions with the private sector operators to be convened by the Ministry of Tourism to feel the pulse of the industry. Such fora have been missing for many years now and we believe reviving it would set a positive tone in the sector,” read the ANJET paper.
While reiterating its alignment with the position of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) on the need for the minister to urgently address the sector’s myriad of challenges, including a National Policy on Tourism, , state’s tourism masterplan, among others, which are contained in an earlier presentation made to her during the group’s courtesy visit in September, 2023, led by its President, Mr Nkereuwem Onung, ANJET assured Ms Ade-John of its commitment towards ensuring the success of programmes of the Tourism ministry, as it further pledged to support her policies aimed at repositioning the sector.
This is, however, as the association appealed to the minister for support in its activities, including the forthcoming 2024 ANJET Conference in Lagos, later in the year.
“Honorable Minister, ANJET seeks your assistance in realizing the laudable goals of this conference, as with other targets of our association.
“We also request your assistance in funding our other activities and furthermore, engaging our inputs and thoughts in your mission to driving growth and development in the Nigerian tourism industry.
“Honorable Minister, ANJET also aligns with the agenda earlier presented to you by the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), of which our association is affiliated to, during its earlier meeting with you on assumption of office in September 2023 in Abuja,” the group posited.
Responding, the minister while welcoming the ANJET delegation to her office, assured of her readiness to collaborate with the private sector operators in the tourism industry, including ANJET in efforts to drive development in the economy.
On promotion of Nigeria’s tourism assets, Ms Ade-John informed the delegation that the ministry will ‘leave no stone unturned’ in marketing the nation’s products to the world using the new mode of virtual reality.
Virtual reality is the use of computer modeling and simulation that enables a person to interact with an artificial three-dimensional (3-D) visual or other sensory environment.
“Marketing and promotion of Nigeria’s tourism endowments is key and huge for us, we have began a lot in this area and among such is the use of documentaries and virtual reality gadgets to attract visitors, to boost domestic tourism.
“We are currently working on producing documentaries on tourism assets and experiences peculiar to each state. These documentaries would also spur the interest of intending tourists to visit those sites physically.
“Also, we are going to create community tourism resource centres in every city in Nigeria which will enable tourists gain access to information on their choice destinations in each city. We are still in the planning stage to upscale the industry, very soon execution of our plans will be implemented,” she said.
Ade-John, who explained the importance of having a functional website that would market the nation’s tourism assets, said plans were also underway to actualise this, added that the ministry had already engaged the National Orientation Agency, Ministry of Aviation, Nigeria Immigration Service and many other organisations to bridge the wide gap in aviation, transportation and tourism.
“We want to ensure that airfares are commensurate with what we have to offer in terms of tourism and create information desk at the airport for seamless access to vital information.
“For the immigration, we want to ensure that our points of entry are attractive enough and welcoming.
“We will be engaging the National Orientation Agency in training our tourism operators because we are aware they have the capacity to do this, they have officials who can speak over 160 languages.
“We will ensure all our plans in advancing the industry is properly executed,” she said.
Established over two decades ago, ANJET is tasked with gauging the pulse of travel and tourism industry operators in Nigeria, while interfacing with the public sector regulators in the sector.
ANJET is affiliated to the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) and remains the only industry Journalists’ body in the 22-member strong private sector operators’ group. Its active members are drawn from various journalism platforms spread across the country, including the online, broadcast and print media.