Denis Opudo
Virtual Tourism was launched in Nigeria on 15th February 2018 by Steve Ayorinde. Mr. Ayorinde is Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts, and Culture. The launching event attracted dignitaries such as Regional director, Muyiwa Oladapo, Otunba Ayo Olumoko and Ngozi Ngoka. The attendees were pleased with the initiative and agreed to support its operations.
According to Annette Ibe, VR complements Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) which aims at domestic tourism promotion. The move, in the long run, will result in the development of tourism sector in the country. He noted that the event will also act as a pillar and basis for tourism transformation. The initiative together with Lagos State established Tourism calendar aimed at showing carnivals and conferences. The other roles of calendar comprise of showing plans, venues, and dates of festivals. He added that the idea of Tour calendar originated from the need to encourage and develop tourism national wide.
Mr. Oladipo challenged the government to embrace tourism in the country. He explained that introduction of tourism Visa can help to increase government revue collection and provision of employment opportunities. He noted that tourism sector will be next potential area in Nigeria come ten years. He commissioned TIDA to consider the sector by improving its key products like organizing more Africa Drum Festival more often. He extended an invitation to all country residents to take part in the forthcoming Annual Africa Drum Festival in Ogun.
An art curator and tourism expert, Prince Yemisi Shyllon, emphasized the importance of acceptance and tolerance of different cultures. He added that the two conditions will enhance tourism to higher frontier across the country. TIDA is currently planning for negotiation between the government stakeholders and private entrepreneurs on the way forward in transforming the sector. Promotion of foreign tourism will top the agenda through expansion of VR platforms to market the country tourist attraction sites. The research report shows that 20% of citizens have money and time for a tour while 30% have no time but funds. The tourism research report also indicated that fifty percent of Nigerians have no time and funds for holiday and tours. This condition requires improvement of VR strategy to bring more foreign tourists in the country.
The Executive Assistant to the founder of La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, Omooba Adekunle Adeyemo, presented tourism report. According to the report, Nigeria is the greatest country in globe when it comes to tourism. He added that the country possesses different types of tourism. The major types include educational tourism, religious tourism, sports tourism, cultural tourism, heritage tourism, agricultural tourism amongst others. He further pointed out that the Ikogosi Warm Springs located in Ekiti is the largest warm spring worldwide. The TIDA initiative was launched by the Skyview Communications in collaboration with other institutions such as KALO Africa.
