Why do we mark World Tourism Day every other year?
It is a symbolic occasion for advocacy; to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address ‘glocal’ tourism problems — and to celebrate and reinforce the achievements and contributions of the industry to economic growth.
According to Omolara Adagunodo, MD at Jumia Travel, “the event, which will feature an interactive and panel session, will coincide with the international celebration of World Tourism Day, a day set aside by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value.
“The theme could not have come at a better time when 1 out of 20 jobs is from the travel and tourism sector coupled with the increasing contributions of the Nigerian hospitality to the labour market. The Nigeria Hospitality report published by Jumia travel reports that the number of direct jobs created by the sector peaked at 1.2 million compared to 651,000 in 2016 (1.6%), that’s 1.8% of total employment in the country.
“In line with this, the panel session will discuss “Repositioning Nigeria’s Tourism Industry to Create More Job Opportunities” and will have on the panel: Adun Okupe PhD, Senior Advisor, Red Clay; Gbenga Onitilo, Sales & Marketing; Air Namibia; Michael Balogun, CEO & Founder of Xtrm Tours 2 Nigeria Ltd; Abiola K. Ogunbiyi, MD SJ Tours & Allied Services, Aguilar Monica, General Manager, The Moorhouse Ikoyi and Femi Lawson, CEO Skyview Communication. The session will be moderated by Sam Adeleke, an expert in destination marketing and co-founder at TravelCenter Africa.
Join us this Friday at The MoorHouse Ikoyi as we interrogate Nigeria’s potentials to utilize tourism as a veritable tool for wealth redistribution.
