Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, was at the weekend certified as the most Tourism friendly Governor in Nigeria in 2023, by the Minister of Tourism, Mrs Lola Ade-John during the 10th Wonder of Nigeria Expo held at National Stadium, Onikan, Lagos
Represented at the occasion by the State’s Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Sir Charles Udoh, Akwa Ibom State also bagged the award of most active Tourism destination in Nigeria.
During the presentation performed by the Minister, two Akwa Ibomites also bagged awards of recognition.
The winners include Mrs Ime Udo, who was honoured as Tourism Promoter of the Year, while Mr Favour Udoh, based in Jos, Plateau State, was recognized as the Best Tourism Photographer of the Year.
Three Akwa Ibomites, including Sir Charles Udoh, were inducted into the TOP 100 TOURISM PERSONALITIES 2023, while Ibom Air, for the third consecutive year emerged as Nigeria’s best airline.
The event was attended by many Tourism professionals and commissioners from across the country.
The Minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John, urged Nigerians to preserve the nation’s historical and cultural assets for posterity.
Mrs Ade-John said Nigerians must be passionate about preserving the nation’s tourism assets and develop some sense of pride in them.
The Wonders of Nigeria Expo, organised by Ikechi Uko, a tourism promoter, is designed to deliberately highlight and promote Nigeria’s historical sites.
The event featured a photo exhibition of over 1,000 tourist sites cutting across the 36 states of the nation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“As we celebrate the 10th edition of this expo, let us not only marvel at the wonders before us but also reflect on the importance of preserving and protecting them for future generations. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that these treasures remain intact for years to come so that others may experience the same sense of awe and wonder that we feel today.
“To achieve this, we must carry along our people. Community engagement is vital to the preservation of our assets and history. We must engage our local communities and train them in basic tourism skills, entrepreneurship, hospitality, cleanliness as well as love and respect for cultural differences.
“We need to love this country. As a government, we will ensure we set up standards, resuscitate the presidential tourism council and encourage the doctrine of tourism.”
Earlier, Managing Director, Goge Africa, Nneka Isaac-Moses, urged the Federal Government to invest in training and capacity building for practitioners in the industry.
She said the government must also work on the provision of accommodation facilities at identified tourism sites within the country for tourists’ comfort.
She appealed to the government at all levels to support funding and create an enabling environment for tourism businesses to thrive.
Also, the National President, of the Nigeria Association of Tour Operators, Ime Udo, spoke on the contributions of Nigerian tour operators toward grooming the industry.
According to Mrs Udo, tour operators over the years have been able to unravel new tourism sites, and promote and drive traffic to such sites.
She, however, called on the federal government to work directly with tour operators and ensure the provision of grants for them to be able to do more.
She said the needed infrastructures should also be provided at all tourism and heritage sites to make marketing of such sites easier.
Founder of Nigeria Tourism Lovers, Ibrahim Makanjuola, said accessing some of the nation’s tourism sites was problematic due to the poor road network. Mr Makanjuola advised the federal government to work on putting in place good roads.
Ekiti, Abia, Enugu, and Cross River states won the most active tourism state of the year 2023.
Director-General, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, Nura Kangiwa, won the ‘2023 Tourism Chief Executive Officer’ award.
