Imoke Urges FG, Others to Support Tourism Operators

Justina Uzo
            

Former Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke has urged the three tiers of government to give tourism the push it deserves for the sector to begin to yield benefits.

Imoke expressed these views when he delivered a keynote address at the 25th Annual General Meeting and Tourism Conference of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) in Abuja, Thursday.                                               

He said tourism “is recognised as a veritable tool for reducing poverty, if handled well.”

 Imoke therefore said incentives for tourism operators would help to grow the tourism sector.

The former governor of the tourism-friendly Cross River State regretted that all was not well now, listing challenges facing the sector to include dearth of data and statistics as key.

He said data and statistics would determine the contribution of tourism to the nation’s economy, for example.

 Another problem, he said, is the low awareness level of Nigeria tourism, which he said “is due to the lack of tourism culture among Nigerians.”

Imoke said: “The greatest challenge I find is insecurity and access to tourism sites which the government has to provide and when the government fails then the investors and operators too fail.

These are critical issues that we must address.”                              Speaking on the theme of the conference, “Nigeria Tourism: The way Forward,” Imoke queried: “Why is the tourism budget shrinking when we have a sector that we want to grow? How and when do we create capital for the industry? Is tourism a luxury good or is it a necessity?

“All of these are part of the challenges that we face. It is the way not only to practically grow the sector, but also to contribute meaningfully to Nigeria Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”

Imoke, who was credited to have developed Cross River State as one of the most sought-after tourism destinations in Africa during his time as governor maintained that tourism should be private sector-driven and was quick to add that in the case of Nigeria, government is the mover rather than the private sector.

Imoke decried the new development, which he said had greatly hampered the growth of the sector in the country.

 To ensure its growth, he called on government to look critically into its role and focus more on providing different forms of incentives for the investors and operators to grow the sector.

‘‘It has to be private sector- driven with the government as the enabler but sometimes the government becomes the mover. Its mandatory roles otherwise we would not grow the industry,’’ he said.

For him, Nigeria has all it takes to have a vibrant tourism industry, advising that “the disagreement between the government and the private sector should not define the industry.”