Business
Make Famous Nigerians Tourism Ambassadors – Consultant
A tourism consultant, Mr.
Basil Okoro, has appealed to investors in the tourism industry to use famous Nigerians as their brand to market their products, so as to give the industry a facelift in the country.
Okoro who disclosed this to The Tide in Port Harcourt in an interaction, explained that if famous Nigerians should be made tourism ambassadors and the face of tourism products for marketing, it will boost the industry’s development.
“This will promote such products in the international market. Such ambassadors can cut across all sectors that can include popular sportsmen and women,” he said. He said that travelling agents and the media have a lot of packaging to do to promote the industry.
Okoro also suggested a synergy between travelling agents and the various agencies of government saddled with tourism development to provide social amenities at tourist sites in rural areas.
“The agents and the authorities should make use of bill boards, fliers, pamphlets and booklets containing required information on various tourist sites in the country.
“These can be distributed to tourists at the country’s various entry points including the airports, seaports and the boards,” Okoro stated.
Meanwhile, the Director of Studies, Standard Aviation and Maritime Training Institute, Mr Barnabas Ayanyemi, on Thursday urged the Federal Government to develop a new tourism policy aimed at evolving a business blue print.
Ayanyemi told newsmen in Lagos that government has the capacity to use the blue print as benchmark for tourism business development.
“Government should constitute a panel to evaluate and determine the kind of development needed for the tourism industry,’’ he said.
The director also urged government to collaborate with the private sector to harness the immense potentials in the tourism sector.
He added that it would also expand government revenue base and the wealth creation potential of the citizens.
“ Collaboration with the private sector will give investors the opportunity to establish institutions, training centres and event centres.
Collins Walter