One year of tourism fumbling?

BY ANDY EHANIRE

Pundits had easily fingered institutional failings as being responsible for the demotion of Tourism from being a full-fledged Ministry at the onset of the current dispensation, with principal actors not being able to fully locate or even justify the critical nexus of Tourism to national development – such that explains how tourism has become a veritable engine room of many national economies.

Given the significance of the plunge in oil prices at the time, requiring major refocusing of policy makers on issues of economic diversification and the importance of Tourism in the consideration of precedence during the consolidation of Ministries, all should have informed a more favourable outcome.

These issues become more pertinent when considered that  the new helmsman is not a tourism professional but a media guru, whereas tourism is easily adjudged the more complex and multi-faceted sector, having potentials for major economic impact. Reminds of the recent experience in the appointment of a Road Marshal to head the nations Aviation Ministry, which learning curve requires going near the basics.

Further issues derived there from are that those at the helm of Tourism in both the Public and Private Sectors at the time, exhibited huge professional deficiencies by failure to provide substantial evidence of appreciable achievements or institutional legacies, which are probably or invariably still being carried over till date. It is instructive to recall my recent opinion in the print media under the caption: “Unending Fumbling with Nigeria’s Tourism Policies”, in which I alluded to the ever present danger that by the very nature of Tourism as a conglomeration of professions, appearing as a trade of all Jacks, there is bound to be a multitude of impostors in matters of technical consultation. We cannot help being this much wary since most instances in which so-called experts have been engaged to fashion a way forward for tourism in Nigeria, we ended up being sold either dummies or white elephants.

The sum of the peculiar circumstance of the incumbent Administration, therefore, is that its prolonged engagement with the formulation of policies and plans, with huge vacuum in the communication and enactment of a roadmap, may have reached the level of their being perceived as permanently stuck on the drawing board, as against hitting the ground running.

In the confusing maze of policy options, my advice to the Honourable Minister is to have two sets of interconnected think-tanks. One that will continue with fine tuning the overall policy thrust, which would include reconfiguring the increasingly moribund National Tourism Master Plan, while the other is to engage  the critically urgent need to identify and focus on some Tourism Pilot Schemes for immediate action. On this second option, I want to recommend some long neglected stones that can serve as a veritable foundation and catalyst for orchestrating and jumpstarting a quantum leap for the Sector.

Firstly, is the need to institute a template for Community Tourism Development to be implemented through the Local Government Tourism Committees who are at the base of the national tourism architecture. The intended outcome at the heart of this revolutionary policy thrust is to revamp community life as an attractive and integral product for both domestic and international tourism, with lasting impact for productivity, improved standards of living and security, in line with the intents of the NEPAD Tourism Action Plan.

In taking to some of these uncharted territories in tourism development, it is heartening that there are key stakeholders as ATPN and its affiliate NGOs who have been working on an advanced blueprint  for community tourism development, who are ready to proffer the required expertise for implementing these long neglected but highly desirable Tourism Pilot Schemes and Extension Services.

We also have to urgently consider revamping the Zoological Gardens across the country to serve as focal points for disseminating Conservation Education programs in a bid to raise awareness of our biological resources, while providing leisure to our recreation-deprived cities. Very importantly but not as ordinary as it may seem, there is need to elevate our markets to being the reflection of the true state of our desired tourism products. No doubt, there is need to restore major monuments that are at the threshold of becoming World Heritage Sites, since there is no reason why with a treasure trove of cultural resources, too few are assisted for global edification.

The guiding principle for the immediate interventions being advocated are in the avoidance of overcapitalization, whereby huge sums are expended without meaningful results, and the mobilization of self help, in which the Federal Ministry in charge of Culture and Tourism is simply an active facilitator or catalyst in the process, such as in the engagement of the State and Local Governments, as well as the communities. It is high time we outgrow the prolonged and short-sighted obsession with cultural dances and hotels as the main and near exclusive focus of our tourism development, whereas the former is only an item in the details, while the later is actually an ancillary service to the Sector.

Ehanire is MD/CEO, Ogba Zoo nd Nature Park, Benin city, Edo state