The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has called on operators and practitioners in the Nigerian Travel-Tourism and Hospitality industry to seize the opportunity occasioned by the global COVID-19 pandemic to re-strategize and reposition the industry for better growth and development via the application of digital technology.
Mohammed was quoted to have said this in a statement made available to the press by Nigerian Institute of Hospitality and Tourism, NIHOTOUR, Mr. Ahmed Sule.
Alhaji Mohammed noted that as bad and critical as the pandemic is, it is an eye opener for the Nigerian tourism industry to be resilient in ensuring that the industry works for the socio-economic good of the country.
The minister spoke through Mr. Folorunsho Coker, the Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC, at the occasion of NIHOTOUR’s Annual Master Lecture Series held in Abuja.
Mohammed said that the human capital development of the Nigerian tourism sector must be compliant with the provisions of the protocol guidelines of COVID-19 for the safety of both service providers and customers, as a way of building confidence in the sector.
He said the theme of this year’s lecture: ‘Professionalizing the Nigerian Tourism and Hospitality Personnel in a Pandemic World,’ was apt and couldn’t have come at a better time than now, when government is doing everything possible to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, while at the same time allowing economic activities to go on without hindrance.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Culture, Dr. Ifeoma Adora Anyanwutaku, said personnel in the tourism and hospitality sector in Nigeria must acquire skills that will enable them to conduct their businesses in a safer and sustainable manner in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Anyanwutaku averred that the NIHOTOURS is in a better position to provide the platform for impacting the necessary skills for such professional conducts that adhere strictly to the COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical protocols.
The Permanent Secretary, who was represented at the occasion by the Director of Domestic and Eco-Tourism in the ministry, Mrs. Patricia Joseph Narai, stated that the current technological break-through in ICT has made it possible for people to conduct business without much of physical contacts through the deployment of electronic and online transactions that are a critical component of the COVID-19 protocol provisions.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Director General of NIHOTOUR, Alhaji Nura Sani Kangiwa, said though the tourism and hospitality sector is the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic globally, the industry remains the most viable sector of the Nigerian economy.
Kangiwa disclosed that the choice of the theme for the 2021 Lecture is to address the skill-gap prevalent in the industry, especially of compliance with the COVID-19 protocol guidelines by industry players in the conduct of travel tourism and hospitality activities in the country.
The NIHOTOUR boss stressed that while government’s proactive measures and efforts must be appreciated at stemming the tide of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, stakeholders in the travel tourism and hospitality industry must deploy the use of modern technology to adequately equip themselves with the necessary skills for efficient and effective service delivery without compromising their safety and wellbeing and those of the patronizing customers against the deadly virus of COVID-19.
As a critical part of the academic activities of the Institute, this year’s Annual Master Lecture Series, which is the fifth in the series, was instituted to attract hospitality and tourism practitioners, professionals and intellectuals to provide informative, engaging and thought-provoking lectures on varying issues that are of paramount relevance to the growth, development and promotion of a flourishing hospitality and tourism industry in Nigeria.
