[Being Position Paper presented by the Association of Nigerian Journalists and Writers of Tourism (ANJET) during a courtesy visit to Minister of Tourism, Federal Republic of Nigeria. Ms Lola Ade-John, in Abuja, on March 7, 2024.]
Congratulations to you the Honorable Minister of Tourism, Ms Lola Ade-John on your appointment to the office in August, last year by President Bola Tinubu. We also commend your dexterity in returning back to office after weeks of being sidelined by unforeseen circumstances.
What we do
As pulse of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), the Association of Nigerian Journalists and Writers of Tourism (ANJET) also gauges and articulates the various positions of industry players and further serve to drive advocacy adopted by the private sector operators in the sector.
ANJET also makes regular interventions in the industry by creating fora for operators and regulators to interface, while also creating platforms for industry players to exploit with a view to sustaining and growing their businesses
Honorable Minister, one of those interventions is the forthcoming ANJET 2014 Conference which has as its theme; ‘Highlighting investment and explorable business opportunities for travel and tourism private sector operators in Africa.’
The conference scheduled for March/April in Lagos is expected to gather public sector policy makers from several African countries, including the Honorable Minister who will address stakeholders on the subject.
The aim of this conference is to provide a veritable platform for private sector operators from the travel and tourism sector in Nigeria to interface with the public sector industry regulators from various African countries, including Nigeria, to gain I sight into viable investment opportunities existing in travel and tourism policies by governments of the participating nations.
This gathering is expected to open windows of opportunities for local and international players to grow their businesses.
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.
We seek to be carried along in your various tourism brand promotion and marketing missions across the stares of the federation, including international visits, to which we assure of our readiness to contribute immensely to the success of such professional engagements.
We also wish to reiterate the imperative of establishing an agency solely tasked with data gathering and statistics, which itself is as vital as a standalone ministry of tourism in Nigeria. 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 saddled with the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority, as a specific agency can reduce this burden in the NTDA for effectiveness.
Madam, we 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.
We assure you of our unalloyed commitment to helping you realize your target goals and agenda for the industry, as we are totally prepared to activate our full capacity and reach towards achieving that goal in your tenure as Nigeria’s pioneer Minister of Tourism.
We also reiterate our appeal to you to invest more interest and concern in our activities considering the vital role we play in aggregating positions of various industry operators in the country and even beyond.
Agenda setting for the industry
I. The Honorable Minister of Tourism needs to engage other MDAs of the federal government towards unlocking the country’s tourism ecosystem. This will go a long way in driving development and seamless operations within the industries. In the same way at it will actualise the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda of Present Bola Tinubu.
II. We urge the minister to prioritize marketing and promotion of Nigeria tourism products which has suffered neglect over the years. Also, marketing and promotion should feature states and private sector in participation, as well.
III. Reopening of international market channels should be taken seriously. Some of these trade exhibitions include: World Travel Market (WTM) in London, IT Berlin, FITUR in Spain, and the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai, the UAE, and others.
Showcasing our products in such international markets would grow and fasttrack our strive to corner the international travel and tourism market and effectively position the country in the comity of global destinations.
IV. The Honorable Minister needs to engage tourism stakeholders with a view to developing a national product planked on iconic features peculiar and indigenous to the nation.
This national product would then be marketed as an attraction for local and international tourists.
V. As a new dawn beckons for the tourism sector, it is imperative for the tourism minister to urgently address the linkage between aviation, transportation and tourism as these sectors had been operating separately.
V1. 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. Staff 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) meeting in 2018, which incidentally was hosted by Nigeria in Abuja.
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.
Who we are
ANJET, established over two decades ago has operated solely as the pulse and conscience of travel and tourism industry operators in Nigeria.
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.
