CAPE TOWN(SOUTH AFRICA) – A Nigerian tourism expert based in South Africa, Mr Azu Okparaugo, said on Wednesday that tourism could be used to increase Nigeria’s annual GDP and boost the economy.
Okparaugo, the Director of Eagle Tourism in Cape Town, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Cape Town, South Africa, that Nigeria was blessed with tourism potentials that could boost its annual GDP.
He said that in 2014, tourism contributed 1. 7 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP while in South Africa, it contributed over 12 per cent of the GDP in the same period.
‘’ In 2014, tourism in Nigeria contributed about N1.6 billion, which is about 1.7 per cent of the annual GDP.
‘’ I think that is a huge number. When translated, about 800,000 jobs were created for people that work in hotels, travel agencies and airlines and government can do more,’’ he said.
According to Okparaugo, the Federal Government can do more to boost tourism in order to create jobs, generate revenue and attract investments.
Okparaugo, a former chairman of the Nigeria Union in Western Cape Province of South Africa, said Nigeria would reap much dividends if tourism could be made to contribute more than 12 per cent to the annual GDP.
The expert, who noted that Nigeria had tourist potentials which other countries lacked, said:
‘’ Nigeria’s music and film industry is a huge potential that could be harnessed and turned into a tourist attraction.
‘’ These sectors alone can be developed and turned into huge tourism potentials.
‘’ The annual Calabar Carnival and the confluence town in Lokoja can be developed to attract tourists.
‘’ Government needs to do more to harness the tourism potentials of Nigeria. For instance, government should pay attention to religious tourism in the country.’’
[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
Okparaugo said many foreigners come to Nigeria for religious tourism, especially for crusades and the annual Osogbo cultural festival.(NAN)
you may also like :