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Tourists Urge FG to Further Liberalise Visa on Arrival
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Chinedu Eze
Some years ago, the federal government, through the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), introduced visa on arrival for certain categories of visitors to Nigeria, especially those willing to invest in the country, and over time tourists and others began to benefit from the policy.
Initially the condition to secure visa on arrival in Nigeria was too stringent and the cost of the service was very high compared to other countries, but over time, Immigration began to relax some conditions, especially the high cost, which currently ranges from $110 to $160, which is still high when compared to the cost in other African countries.
Tourists are therefore calling on the federal government to further liberalise Visa on Arrival, to enable more tourists and other visitors gain easy access to Nigeria.
According to the Nigeria Immigration Service, to be eligible for Nigeria Visa on Arrival, the applicant must meet certain requirements, which include frequent traveller or a high net worth individual; must have a valid passport with at least six months validity beyond the date of arrival in Nigeria; must have a return ticket or an onward ticket and must have proof of accommodation in Nigeria.
Other conditions include that he must have a pre-approval letter issued by the Nigeria Immigration Service; must have a recent passport photograph; must have a contact person or address in Nigeria; must have a valid e-mail address and must have a valid credit card to pay for the visa fee.
Travel expert and organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market, Ambassador Ikechi Uko, commended the Nigerian Immigration Service for reducing the cost of the visa but said that the agency needed to soften down on the other conditions in order to encourage more people to visit Nigeria as tourists.
He told THISDAY that Rwanda, Benin and The Gambia have fully liberalised Visa on Arrival process for Africans visiting those countries and recently Ghana announced that if you are African, you don’t need visa to visit Ghana and the new policy ought to take effect from January 2025. So, if Nigeria can open its door further it may not insist on high net worth individuals, frequent traveller or prior letter from Immigration. It was learnt that most people who travel for tourism may not be high net worth individuals but ordinary people who save up money to travel to different countries during holidays or during their leave.
Nigeria has many places to travel to but many of such places need further development and whether Nigeria has the hospitality facilities to accommodate more foreigners and Nigerians in diaspora when they visit, Ambassador Uko said that Nigeria may need to build more standard hotels in the categories of three, four and five star hotels. He said that there were lots of bed and breakfast and short let hospitality facilities in Nigeria but the country needs to build more standard hotels.
“Capacity is where the problem is. Nigeria needs to have standard hotels like three, four and five star hotels to accommodate more tourists. We have B and B facilities, short let apartments but when it comes to regular hotels, we are not there yet,” he said.
Talking about the Calabar Festival, which has drawn many foreigners to Nigeria for years, he said that as more people participate in the festival more hotels may be needed, but from the beginning of the festival, many residents in Calabar usually rent out their homes, saying that such strategy could continue while the state government which has developed deep interest in the festival and has been funding it for years, create more incentives to boost the festival.
“The Cross River government has promised to build four hotels in Calabar before December 2025. We cannot have enough hotels in the short possible time in Calabar, so more people should rent their homes in December,” Ambassador Uko who is a major facilitator of the festival said.
Looking at tourism destinations, the organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market and Accra Weizo, noted that there are tourist destinations that have natural attraction but more facilities could be built there to make them more attractive. He said that Ikogosi Warm Spring and Obudu Cattle Ranch, for example, have their natural attraction and noted that Landmark taking over Nike Lake Resort and another beachside in Port Harcourt is worth noting because the company has the reputation to transform facilities.
“Obudu Cattle Ranch does not need much; just access road and better management and no place can yet be compared to Obudu Cattle Ranch in Nigeria. Landmark taking over Nike Lake means a lot because the company has proved itself by transforming ordinary beach to a big resort in Lagos, which attracted other people to start building similar facilities. It is a big brand and very creative,” he said.
The Founder and Managing Director of Travel Lab Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Shalom Asuquo, in her appraisal of 2024 Detty December and the influx of foreigners and Nigerians in diaspora, noted that there may not be accurate figures to that movement yet, but noted that there is discerning decline in international travel and offered possible consequences to this new development.
“For international travel, the significant decline in passenger numbers is largely attributed to the rising cost of travel. The high cost of international flights has made “Japa” (relocation) increasingly unaffordable, leading to a drastic reduction in migration rates. This trend is also reflected in reduced staff turnover within organizations. However, this shift has coincided with a concerning rise in fraudulent activities by staff and a decline in personal development efforts among employees. “Additionally, the rising cost of living in other parts of the world has exacerbated challenges for Nigerians who relocated abroad. Many are now facing financial difficulties, with some resorting to living on the streets. Various state and federal government agencies have conducted verification exercises, exposing employees who relocated (“Japa”) but continued to receive salaries. These employees are now being forced to forfeit their benefits and pensions, cutting off a previously relied-upon income stream. As a result, many are returning to Nigeria or, in some cases, one partner in the household is relocating back,” Asuquo said.
She observed that there has been an increase in travel across Africa, as a smaller number of people travel overseas due to stringent travel conditions, high cost of fares and diminishing work opportunities abroad. In addition to the travel across West Africa, there is also interstate tourism in Nigeria, where people leave their homes and relocate to hotels and this explained why most hotels did not have rooms in many states, especially in southern Nigeria during the Yuletide. The hotels were fully occupied.
“At the same time, there has been an increase in travel across West African corridors by road due to the affordability of bus travel compared to air travel. While international flights cost between N800,000 and N1.5 million, depending on the destination, road travel costs a maximum of N300,000. This cost disparity is prompting more travelers to opt for road transportation over air travel. There is also an increased intrastate tourism and travel where citizens move to hotels within their locality or state. The increased have created intrastate tourism,” she further said.
Nigeria seemed poised to boost its foreign exchange through tourism in coming years, as the sector will create thousands of additional jobs as it gets revamped.