The March 2020 lockdown ordered by the federal government to check the spread of the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic affected the hospitality and tourism sector as there were job losses and general economic down-turn of the sector.
To redress the trend and boost the sector, experts and stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality industry have called for a COVID-19 Tourism Recovery Roadmap for the sector.
They made the call in Calabar at the South-South Tourism Stakeholders Forum with the theme, ‘The Use of Digital Technology to Revamp the Tourism and Hospitality Industry amidst COVID-19 and Security Challenges in Nigeria’.
Prof. Bassey Esu, of the marketing department, University of Calabar said the industry had no roadmap after the COVID-19 lockdown in the country.
Esu said that after the lockdown, the National Union of Road Transport Workers developed a roadmap to guide its operations but no roadmap was developed for the tourism sector.
He also stressed the need to provide rules in the sector to avoid conflicts.
According to the university don, “For any organised project, it begins with planning. If you fail to plan, it means you are planning to fail. Nigeria is not left out in the negative impact the COVID-19 pandemic caused.
“There was a lockdown, businesses were locked down. There were job losses. Now, consumer attitude has changed and the way of behaviour has changed. That is why we are saying that the new way of improving things should be put in place.
“What is the new way? This new way should be defined in a document approved by the stakeholders in the tourism industry. The idea is to fill the gap the pandemic has caused to the industry,’’ the don said.
According to him, there must be a purposeful political will by the government to open up the industry by taking some responsibilities to make our country as a destination, sellable to even Nigerians before even selling to others.
“That is why we need a COVID-19 Tourism Recovery Roadmap. We have the National Tourism Plan of 2006. This master plan has certain provisions but we are unable to implement.
“What we need is to review it and bring a new reality to make it functional. So, there must be new road set standard and national standard of training must be instituted,’’ the don said.
He also stressed the need for government to invest in infrastructure in the nation’s tourist sites.
“We have the forest that is called nature tourism and there is no road. You have a beach that has no facilities. And you are marketing the beach and you just show it on visual reality for people to see the beach and crocodiles. How do they access it? There is the need to improve on infrastructure. Let there be good roads that a tourist can follow.
“Let there be electricity and potable water and of course eateries. These are things that they will come and see,’’ the don said.
Prof Chris Agbo, also of the same university who also spoke urged owners of tourism assets to properly package their products in order to attract potential buyers.
Agbo said, “Some people have a product to sell but they don’t know how to package and present it. If you don’t package your product properly, you won’t sell well. It won’t look attractive and people will just be passing it.
“So, my advice is that those who are into tourism should be able to come together and learn from one another. Some people might be good in packaging, they will support and assist in packaging your products to sell and make money.
“Tourism is the only sustainable industry that Nigeria can boast of. The oil will soon finish, but tourism does not finish; in fact it gets better especially with the technological world we are in today.’’
The don also called for the conservation and protection of gorillas to prevent them from going into extinction.
“In the whole world, we have only 300 cross over gorillas and 150 are here with us in Cross River. A gorilla does not give birth to twins and the pregnancy lasts for eleven months.
“So, if you lose one, it is a terrible blow. So, that is the advocacy we are actually doing here and we are asking people to come and join us,’’ he said.
Mr Folorunsho Coker, the director-general, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) stressed the need for stakeholders in the tourism industry to collaborate in order to promote growth of the sector.
Coker said that the time had come for actors in the tourism and hospitality industry to stop competing with one another and embrace collaboration to move the industry forward.
“This is the season of collaboration not the season of competition. In this season of technological advancement, stakeholders should collaborate rather than compete,” he said.
He observed that there was a disconnect in the tourism policies between the federal, states and local governments in terms of participation in tourism development.
He attributed the gap to tourism laws and stressed the need for a new legal framework for the sector.
“Tourism begins at the local government level, so, we need active participation of the local governments for tourism to thrive,” he said.
He urged tourism stakeholders to embark on regular training of their staff in view of the new trend in the industry caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr Adoara Ayanwutaku, the permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture who spoke, said the forum was timely in view of the damage done to the tourism sector by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ayanwutaku, represented by Mrs Sani Sodangi, deputy director, Domestic and Eco-Tourism, Promotion and Control, said the forum would provide opportunity to stakeholders to make postulations on the way forward.
She pledged the ministry’s readiness to provide the enabling environment for all agencies to perform optimally.
Mr Eric Anderson, the commissioner for tourism and culture in Cross River, said that in spite of the setback brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism industry in Nigeria is still vibrant.
According to him, the industry has come to terms with the adaptation to products and service enhancing technologies, including online transport solution, and destination marketing on social media, among others.
Mr Ini Akpabio, the chairman, Akwa Ibom State Hotels Management and Tourism Board identified lack of electricity, poor internet network, high cost of digital equipment as some of the factors hindering the use of digital technology.
Akpabio urged the government and other relevant stakeholders to address the problems in order to revamp the tourism and hospitality industry in the country.
NAN
