Tourism magnate and President of the Centre for Promotion of Peace, Tourism, Arts and Culture (CEPTAC), Chief (Dr) Mike Amachree has urged Nigerians in diaspora to attract more tourists to the country to boost the nation’s foreign exchange earnings.
Amachree who made the call at a one-day parley between tourism stakeholders and Nigerians in the diaspora held at the Brookyn Tourists Centre, Rumuosi, Port Harcourt, re-iterated that the parley had become imperative in view of the negative economic situation facing the country.
The tourism mogul said there was need for deliberate investment in the tourism industry to create jobs that would engage the teeming youths meaningfully.
Amachree lauded the Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike for his pragmatic approach in solving tourism challenges in the state by establishing the Port Harcourt Pleasure Park and the massive construction of roads. He requested the state government to do more especially in the rural areas by creating the enabling environment and providing support to the private sector to invest massively in the tourism business. “Gone are the days we should depend on oil only. The Federal Government should relax the entry requirement so as to allow foreign tourists to enter into the country”, he said.
Chairman of the parley and former Commissioner for Lands and Housing in the old Rivers State, Prof Kimse Okoko said the tourism business in Nigeria had earned Chief Amachree recognition as, “Father of Tourism”. Okoko, ex-President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) stated that tourism in the country had been confronted with many challenges, saying it was an area for the diversification of the country’s economy, adding that total dependence on oil has had a detrimental effect on the development of the country.
He also solicited the support of multi-nationals and public-spirited individuals to heartily invest in tourism development, noting that leaving the government alone would not make tourism thrive in the country.
Also speaking, the Royal Father of the day and Amanyanabo of Kalabari Kingdom, Professor T.J.T. Princewill represented by Chief Inimi Atiegoba said the tourism sub-sector had become the main stay of economic development for many countries of the world, adding that Nigeria could not afford to be an exception.