Lagos Focuses on Tourism and Community Development For WTD 2014

Every 27th September is the World Tourism Day (WTD), set aside to draw attention to tourism and its impact on the socio-economic development of the world. Though, Lagos State shifted it to Tuesday 30th September because it fell on the last Saturday of the month scheduled for environmental sanitation, the impact was still strong as stakeholders, members of the public and dignitaries converged at Freedom Park, Lagos in a bid to actuate the theme of the 2014 WTD and develop Community-based Tourism (CBT) as a way of empowering poor communities within the state.

This year’s theme: Tourism and Community Development focuses on the contribution of the sector to community development. It used the opportunity to focus on efforts being made to develop the state’s suburbs and create opportunity for economic empowerment of host communities with tourist sites.
In his welcome address at the occasion, the Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism and Inter-governmental Relations, Mr. Disun Holloway, said the current administration in the State had placed emphasis on regional tourism over inbound tourism. This, he said, informed the state government’s efforts to development social infrastructures and engage tourism projects like Badagry Tourism Development which is at advanced stage of completion. He also said the sites being developed include Vlekete slave market, restoration of the District Officer’s residence, the Heritage Museum , rehabilitation and preservation of walkways  along the slave route, redevelopment of Point of No Return at Gberefu, redevelopment of the Badagry Marina and the shoreline protection. Holloway said the state expected about two million tourists annually.

He further disclosed that the government had partnered with Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) and Fela Anikulapo family as well as revived old festivals in order to boost the profile of Lagos as a tourism destination.
“Our efforts in the hospitality industry also include enumeration, grading and classification of hotels in the state so that visitors are better informed as to what to expect in hotels and more important to create healthy competition among hospitality institutions thereby ensuring that patrons rare better served,” he said.
The chairman of the occasion and Special Adviser, Youth and Social Development, Dr. Dolapo Badru, harped on the security crisis in the country as impediments to tourism growth. He advised the government to borrow a leaf from Ghana.

Culled from: http://www.thisdaylive.com