Nigeria’s tourism and hospitality industry might overtake
the downstream sector by 2021 if the recently launched African Union (AU)
passport is adopted by the country’s legislators. This is according to Mr.
Kushal Dutta, the managing director of Africa’s number one hotel booking portal Jumia
Travel Nigeria, who further said the Pan-African Passport will allow free
movement of domestic tourists into the country.
Kushal made the remark last weekend while fielding questions
from journalists on the potential of the Nigerian tourism and hospitality
industry as an alternative to boosting the country’s economy. According to him,
the opportunities presented by the unified African passport supersede the
threats, especially now that Nigeria’s mainstay which is oil might not be
sufficient to grow the economy; if the country’s Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) are to be achieved.
He also noted that the reality of the dwindling oil prices
as a result of the fall in foreign exchange is now being felt across all
sectors and as such, many industry experts are daily brainstorming on
diversification opportunities to prevent the country from going on recession.
“In Nigeria, industry leaders have highlighted the
hospitality industry among the sectors with the most opportunities for growth
in the next five years. Breaking the barrier of free travel for other African
countries to come to Nigeria is a potent way of enhancing the growth of the
hospitality industry. Although, there is no gainsaying that the unified AU
passport will also have some demerits such as unmonitored inflow of migrants
and perhaps criminals from one country to another,” he said.
Kushal also touched on the opportunities the AU passport
will bring for the African continent, stating that, there will be an increase
in domestic tourism in the continent and this will pave way for increase in job
creation. He cited the 2015 report on Travel and Tourism Industry in Africa
which indicated that the industry generated approximately 9 million jobs
directly (3.0% of total employment) and a growth forecast of 0.3% in 2016 (2.9%
of total employment). This includes employment by hotels, restaurants, travel
agents such as Jumia Travel and airlines among others. It is
predicted that by 2026, the industry will account for about 11.7 million jobs
directly in Africa - an increase of 2.5% per annum over the next decade.
It will be recalled that the United Nations World Tourism
Organisation (UNWTO) recently rolled out a number of measures, including
technical assistance, capacity building and the revision of the country’s
Tourism Master Plan, as part of efforts to ensure the development of tourism in
Nigeria. The UN Agency made the announcement at the end of a two-day meeting
between the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and the
global tourism agency in Madrid, Spain.
In the same vein, President Muhammadu Buhari, at the 2016
National Summit on Culture and Tourism in Abuja, stated that Tourism and
Culture, which had been neglected in the past, would soon be the bedrock of
Nigeria’s economy.
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