NATOP seeks FG’s assistance in promoting tourist destinations

The Nigerian Association of Tour Operators on Thursday called on the Federal Government to assist in renovating the nation’s tourist sites.
Its National President, Bilikisu Abdul, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.
She said that renovating the nation’s tourists’ sites would make it easier for tour operators to market those sites properly.
According to her, there are a good number of tourists’ sites that have gone moribund for years which need to be revived.
She said that the association had taken it upon itself to sensitise the state governments where such sites are located for proper maintenance and marketing to international tourists.
She said: “Almost every state in the country has issues to look into at their sites; like the road network, poor maintenance of the sites, power outage and more.
“The Nigerian tour operators are not happy with the way the tourism industry is being handled.
“Government must pay attention to the industry because it can be a huge revenue earner for the nation if properly groomed.
“Most of our tourists’ sites need proper maintenance. When these sites are in poor state, we find it difficult to market them to local and international tourists.
“We need the Federal Government to yield to our yearnings so that the industry can be taken to the next level.”
Abdul advised the Federal Government to involve the right people in grooming the tourism industry, saying that this was the only way the industry could grow to be able to compete with those in other climes.
She advised that government should engage tour operators in series of training within and outside the country.
According to her, these trainings will equip the tour operators more to know how best to market the available tourists’ sites in the country and to learn how this is being done in other countries.
She said: “I can remember when Mr Olusegun Runsewe was the Director- General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, Nigerian tour operators were always going for training abroad to learn.
“This really helped us then and should be improved on.”