FG should engage youths unable to travel abroad to groom tourism sector—stakeholder

NAN-H-19
Tourism
By Taiye Baiyerohi
Lagos Nov. 30, 2016 (NAN) The Federal Government should encourage Nigerian youths unable to seek greener pastures abroad through rejection by various embassies to invest in the country’s tourism sector.
The Chief Executive Officer of Boomtrust Travels and Tours, Mr Olubunmi Oshindero,gave the advice in an interview he granted the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Wednesday.
Oshindero said that the government should encourage such Nigerian, majorly the youths, to invest in growing and renovating the existing tourist sites in the country.
He said that this was the best period the country could generate huge revenue from tourism as most people intending to travel abroad were finding it tough to obtaining visas.
The embassies were coming up with stringent procedures and intending travellers and the travelers were finding it them difficult to meet.
Oshindero said this was also to discourage Nigerian youths from travelling abroad but remaining at home to contribute their quotas to national development.
“ The embassies believe a lot of Nigerians wanted to elope. Presently, anyone who is not up to between 40 years and 50 years old will not be given Dubai visa,” he said.
He, however, noted that several Nigerians had been forced to remain in their country for leisure owing to the deliberate cumbersome procedure for visa procurement and fluctuation in the exchange rate.
He said this was an opportunity to groom tourism by renovating and re-branding the nation’s tourist sites and create new ones.
“ I believe this is a positive development, an opportunity for the Federal Government to groom the nation’s tourism industry.
“ With this development, it will attract inbound tourists,’’ he said.
Oshindero said that when the nation’s domestic tourism had been well developed, the tourist sites well renovated and maintained, then little would be done to attract foreign tourists. (NAN)
PTB/PAD
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Edited by Peter Dada