By Modupe Gbadeyanka
On Frida, September 27, 2019, stakeholders in the tourism industry in Nigeria will gather at Ereko Hall, The Moorhouse Ikoyi, Lagos, for the maiden World Tourism Day event organized by Jumia Travel, the hotel and flight marketplace of Jumia.
A statement issued by the company disclosed that the theme for the event is Tourism and Jobs: A Better Future for All, a topic chosen by the organisers to address the growing relevance of tourism and its potential to create thousands of jobs.
The theme would be dissected via a panel session with a sub-theme Repositioning Nigeria’s Tourism Industry to Create More Job Opportunities and would be moderated by Sam Adeleke, an expert in destination marketing and co-founder at TravelCenter.Africa.
Invited to be on the panel are 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.
It was disclosed that the event 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.
Speaking on the event, Omolara Adagunodo, the Managing Director of Jumia Travel, said that the World Tourism Day event in Lagos is another forum for stakeholders to discuss issues affecting the hospitality sector and proffer pragmatic solutions.
“The Nigeria hospitality sector has myriads of challenges, one of which is reflected in this year’s theme. For Jumia, World Tourism Day is not just a day to celebrate but also a day to discuss some of the shortcomings of the sector while making valid recommendations on how to tackle or resolve them,” she said.
It is important to note that the theme for this programme could not have come at a better time when one 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 percent), that’s 1.8 percent of total employment in the country.
