Minister Pledges Collaboration With NATOP

Charles Ajunwa

Tourism Minister, Mrs. Lola Ade-John,  has promised to collaborate with the members of the Nigeria Association of Tour Operators (NATOP) to promote Nigeria’s tourism sites, landmarks and diverse cultural heritage. 

The minister who pledged the collaboration when she received the President of NATOP,  Mrs. Bolaji Mustapha and her executive members in her Abuja office, expressed excitement at the decision of Nigerian tour practitioners to visit the entire stretch of the country’s vast landscape to process, understudy, package and promote the various tourism, hospitality, festivals and heritage offerings associated with Nigeria to the international community in general and Nigerians in particular.  

“We shall partner together and I assure you of my ministry’s support and encouragement. Going forward, we shall endeavour to invite and carry your association along in whatever we are going to do. We need you to furnish us with a list of your accredited members, and when we are going to present the tourism policy which we think we need to review, we shall invite NATOP to look at it and further add value to the document,” the minister explained. 

On support to NATOP activities and facilitating efforts to showcase Nigeria at the 2024 World Travel Market (WTM) taking place in London,  the minister stated that the ministry is working on it’s budget, which she said currently cannot help drive the many pending tourism projects of the ministry. 

According to Ade-John, paucity of fund may impact on the ministry’s participation at the global tourism trade event this year, assuring that at the next budgetary releases next year, Nigeria will take steps to showcase her tourism offerings to the world. 

“We are constrained financially for now and can’t do much but hopefully by next year budget, we should have done our home work well and I assure you that we are going to do many tourism projects together because what you did during the World Tourism Day in Lagos, was the way to go in promoting Nigeria which is very dear to my heart,” the minister added. 

NATOP President, Mrs. Mustapha ???who visited the minister in company of her deputy,  Ms Geraldine Itoe, National Publicity Secretary Onyeka John, Financial Secretary, Ms Ogugua Anobili and Deputy National Secretary, Joy Alexander Oziegbe, earlier, briefed the minister on association’s short and long term plans to market Nigeria’s rich tourism assets and also of their intention to participate at the World Travel Market. 

“We are here to assure you and the ministry of our partnership and collaboration to market Nigeria’s diverse offerings cutting across cultural heritage, ecological tourism,  hospitality, festivals and fashion. We are interested in sharing our knowledge concerning Nigerian tourism policy and other industry-related concerns, which would help reposition our tourism within the domestic and international space,” NATOP president explained, adding that the association would reinvent the strategic socio-economic importance of tourism economy to job creation and empowerment of the people,  with eyes on improved global ranking as a destination to visit in Africa. 

“We have started looking inwards, and in weeks and months to come, NATOP will embark on project rediscover Nigeria and, with it, galvanise the states and local authorities and the Nigerian people to think Nigeria culture and tourism first. Nigeria tourism is important to us, and we want to have your ministry’s backing in this noble effort,” Mustapha further explained.