Many countries have things that they are very proud of, they want the rest of the world to visit to enjoy some of the best sceneries that they have. Tourism is big business even for some of the most advanced economies. The sector generates billions of dollars for some of the best countries, including the UK, France and the U.S. Countries like China, Barbados, Kenya and UAE are not doing too badly as well.
It is therefore surprising that policy makers in Nigeria are not jumping for joy or shouting from the top of the hills as the prospect of showing off some of the best things that the country has to offer. With a huge population, Nigerians are the best people to encourage to go to other parts of the country, but the security issues must be addressed first. There is so much to gain when people find out about other cultures and the people.
From the discovery of petroleum, Nigeria has basically given up on other forms of generating revenue, but there are so many things across the vast country of 170 million that the world will be queuing to see, if the environment and infrastructure are out in place to cater for the sector.
So what are the benefits of developing tourism in the country?
The most obvious benefits are the employment for people in the sector, tourists bring their money into the country, this will help to provide foreign currency for the country. Another benefit is that other sectors will also benefit from some of the things that we already have, but tourism is not even about attracting foreigners to come to the country to spend money, even Nigerians will be exposed to some of the things that are already present within the country. It helps to bring enlightenment about the different areas of the country.
But first thing first, issues such as securities, lack of electricity needs, traffic congestion on the roads etc need to be addressed, but not that they need to be resolved, but that solutions need to be found to counter the effect of such issues or tourists are very freckle. They will disappear as soon as there are issues that will affect the enjoyment of their holidays.
More beautiful pictures to follow.