The founder, Centre for Promotion of Peace, Tourism, Arts and Culture (CEPTAC) and Nigeria’s Father of Tourism, Chief Mike Amachree has once again made a passionate call on tour operators and travel agents to pay greater attention to inbound tourism by making efforts to sell Nigerian destinations to the outside world. He said the tourism sector has made and continues to make significant contributions to the nation’s economy through income generation, creation of jobs, foreign exchange generation, and could even do more if the volume of tourism traffic for inbound tourists is increased.
Chief Amachree made the call during his tour of tourism sites and facilities in Lagos recently. He toured places like the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) and Oak Garden and Cultural Centre at Igando, a suburb of Lagos owned Mr. Jemi Aladi, one of Nigeria’s leading tour operators.
At Oak Garden and Cultural Centre, Amachree was taken round the facility by the proprietor. The centre has an event hall, a medium meeting room, general and executive lounges and fully furnished for entertainment activities. Alade said the centre was part of his personal contribution to the development of tourism in the country, and that having been in tourism for so many years, it was an expression to his commitment to sustainable tourism.
Amachree commended Alade, saying he was among the few authentic tour operators that have worked tirelessly to put Nigeria on the tourism map over the past three decades. He said: “I used to meet Mr. Alade 30 years back in different cities in United States with his brochure moving from one tour operator to the other to sell Nigeria and bring inbound tourists. These are the kind of people that the government should reach out to for the way forward for the Nigerian tourism industry. He packages inbound tours and he is in direct contact with his counterparts outside the country. Anybody that has been involved in tourism in Nigeria knows the antecedent of Jemi Alade.”
Amachree said, as Nigeria’s Father of Tourism, he will be visiting other parts of the country for first hand information on condition of sites and also encourage industry practitioners to always do the needful in other to sustain the present tourism tempo in Nigeria.