By Francis Ogwo
Nigerians have defied the likely limitations of the second wave of the COVID-19 scare on global travels to seek for fun within the confines of the country with it’s rich destinations.
A recent post on a tourism Whatsapp platform Accraweizo made by Ikechi Uko said the much publicized Obudu Christmas tour had attracted funseekers to several tourism hotspots across the country.
Recall that state governments had renewed their drive towards boosting their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) with tourism on the priority list of some naturally endowed states.
This was the case as Cross Rivers State led other states in Nigeria including Oyo, FCT, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Imo and Lagos among other endowed states in projecting the tourism destinations in their respective states.
The post by Ikechi Uko read:
“First time in my tourism experience in Nigeria I am seeing tour buses lined up at a location with paying tourists. What has happened at Obudu this week should be the future of domestic tourism.
“Idere Hills in Oyo State is sold. Ibom resort in Akwa Ibom is sold. Almart Farm in Abuja is sold. Badagry is sold. Great stories from Enugu and Imo State. Things are happening.
“A situation where all our resorts and hotels should be fully subscribed. I am happy that we are associated with numerous tour packages all over the country this december. Never happened before,” Uko added.
There have been a beehive of activities from the Nigerian Association of Tour Operators (NATOP), Federation of Travel Agencies of Nigeria (FTAN) and other travel and tourism bodies in driving the publicity and attractiveness of the beauty and splendor of Nigeria with its fauna and Flora.
This was through the sales of Tour packages by the operators this time to destinations within Nigeria. It was spearheaded by a group of tourism experts under the auspices of Tourism 100 and the Naija 7 Wonders.
Experts are of the view that the industry is leaving no stone unturned in restoring the fortunes lost by the first wave of the novel COVID 19 pandemic which crippled the travels and Tourism sector among other sectors of the economy.
KaftanPost caught glimpses of tourists around the nation’s designations wearing nosemarks and keeping safe distances as a preventive measure against the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Such moves, experts argue, must be given total government support towards beaming the spotlight on Nigeria as the global destination of choice in succeeding years.
