Chairman and Publisher the Guardian Media group Lady Maiden Alex -Ibru has emphasized the role of the Media in Tourism development saying they provide the public with the materially significant publicity required to engage the interests, attention and spending power of visitors at both local as well as international level.
She was speaking at the opening ceremony of the Akwaaba African Travel Market holding at the Eko Hotel and Suites Lagos. In her presentation titled ‘ The Role of the Media in Tourism Development’, Dame Alex – Ibru highlighted both opportunities and challenges besieging the industry explaining that tourism catalyzes demand for accommodation, financial services, financial inclusion, Telecommunications as well as transportation.
‘’Tourists need places to live, Naira, Cedis, Dollars to spend, Call cards to speak to their loved ones locally and abroad. And they must move from point A to point B. Naturally, all these stimulate direct and local employment.’’
AKWAABA Travel Market, now in its 17th edition is the biggest Travel Expo in West Africa, bringing together stakeholders from within the sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. This year’s event is its first in nearly two years. Its Convener Ikechi Uko has been in front line advocacy for tourism development not just in Nigeria but within and outside the West African Sub-Saharan region in nearly three decades. The annual event also provides opportunities for SMEs development training individuals both at the micro and medium level, thus serving as an event where businesses as well as lives are positively changed.
Sighting statistics from the World Travel and Tourism Council, she explained that tourism is responsible for 8.8% (238 million jobs globally), 9.1% of the World’s GDP (USD $6.6 Trillion dollars) 4.5% (USD $652 billion dollars) of global investment pre-pandemic.
‘’Nevertheless, it is not only rosy and perfect. In Sub-Saharan Africa, there’s the heightened insurgency occasioned by ISWAP, Boko Haram and other virulent non-state actors. COVID19 remains a constant challenge not only to tourism but, to the global socio-economic order because it has fragmented local and international travel, undermined tourists’ confidence, created a dichotomy of vaccinated tourists (who can travel relatively freely); and unvaccinated tourists (who can travel less freely). These are significant issues which are being addressed with variable degrees of success under the auspices of the World Health Organization, Travel and Tourism Council and Inter-governmentally.’’
Articulating her thoughts and suggestions on way forward for the media, she urged on the need to create compelling narratives of Africa and at the same time presenting factually accurate and balanced accounts of health and security challenges relative to tourism advice. According to her, that way, potential tourists can make informed choices.
‘’Highlight positive stories and images of tourism in Sub-Saharan Africa and Africa more widely. At the Guardian Media Group, we created a film, Eyimofe, which is not only showing across the world, but which has garnered international laurels most recently, at the Asian World Film Festival/Red Cross Courage to Dream Award 2021, Los Angeles, 2021.’’
Dame Alex- Ibru also articulated the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCTA) which seeks to eliminate trade barriers across intra-African trade, and which by extension, heightens the potential scaling-up of direct and indirect employment across the continent.
She also spoke on the need for Travel Journalists to exploit existing diverse range of media channels and platforms to reach a constantly changing and wider demographics on the key advantages of tourism as a vehicle of economic growth.
‘’Dare to dream!!! Social media creates opportunities for capacity building and training courses in tourism development in this new age of artificial intelligence and flexible working practices, Exploit it profitability and responsibly.
