LAGOS – The Chief Executive Officer of Boomtrust Travels and Tours, Mr Olubunmi Oshindero, said on Sunday that tourism was an inexhaustible goldmine that had yet to be effectively tapped in the country.
Oshindero told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that Nigeria had yet to tap up to five per cent of its tourism potential.
He said that government and some local investors would need to create more tourists’ sites within the country, in order to fully utilise the sector.
“Tourism development demands the creativity of both government and the individuals, so as to boost inbound tourism.
“Tourism specialists should be consulted, who would work beyond the existing knowledge and prospect beyond what we see today.
“The government must also begin to see tourism as a business to be attended to and not a sector to be toyed with.
“Individuals who have the funds to create tourists’ sites should do so, in order to further develop the nation and create employment opportunities for the masses,’’ Oshindero said.
He urged the government to solve problems such as security, power outages, transportation and frequent changes in government policies, to give tourism a good push in the country.
“For security reasons, foreign tourists find it difficult to come into the country, irrespective of the relevance of our tourists’ sites.
“The road network leading to most of our tourists’ centres are bad, which could serve as a discouraging factor for tourists visiting the sites,’’ he said.
Oshindero charged both government and private owners of tourists’ sites to improve on the quality of services in each of the sites. (NAN)