NAN-ELS-1
Tourism
By Collins Yakubu-hammer
Abuja, Sept. 23, 2016 (NAN) The 2016 world Tourism Day Conference will address innovative strategies in the development of accessible tourism infrastructure, products and services, the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has said.
Accessibility to products and services will add value to destinations and enhance their competitiveness on the global tourism market, the UNWTO media officer, Ms Rut Sobrino, said in a statement in Abuja on Friday.
“A number of best practices will be featured with the aim of emphasising the value of investing in accessibility.
“The official celebrations would include a ‘Tourism and the Media’ session on Sept. 26 at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, and a full-day conference the following day.
“During the event, experts on accessibility and tourism will exchange views and best practices and also address the need to work in cooperation to advance in the ‘Tourism for All’ agenda.
“The need to increase awareness and capacity building targeting both decision makers and tourism professionals are some of the topics to be address during the conference,’’ Sobrina said.
She underscored the necessity for accessibility in tourism and to accommodate everyone, including the physically challenged anywhere they might travel to.
NAN reports that the 2016 `World Tourism Day’ official celebration will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, on Sept. 27 in collaboration with Cable News Network.
The year’s theme for the celebration is “Tourism for All, Promoting Universal Accessibility.’’
Meanwhile in Nigeria, the Oyo State Government has decided to adopt a different approach to the celebration of the event.
The Commissioner for Tourism, Mr Toye Arulogun said Gov. Abiola Ajimobi had reviewed past celebrations and directed that the year’s event be used to promote an indigenous trade of the state.
Arulogun said the event would hold in Iseyin Local Government Area and that it would be branded in a carnival-like manner to enable the people of the area to benefit from its economic effect.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said recently that UNWTO had agreed to work with Nigeria government to boost its tourism sector.
Mohammed, who met with UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai at the UNWTO Commission for Africa meeting in Abidjan, said the organisation had agreed to design a two-year Plan of Action for tourism in Nigeria. (NAN)
CMY/JCE
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(Edited by Chukwudi Ekezie)