‘No celebration yet for tourism in Nigeria’

President, SKAL International, Lagos, Mrs Rita Ofure Obidike, has come hard on tourism and travel, saying there is no cause for celebration when the sector is still in infancy and when the nation is serious about having her own national carrier, She stated this at the 60th anniversary of SKAL International, Lagos held during the week in Lagos. SKAL is an association of travel and tourism professionals.

It is the only organisation that brings all tourism arms under one roof.

In her speech as the event, which had in attendance tourism experts, renowned business moguls, airline chief, aviation chiefs and others who have contributed immensely to developing the sector, Obidike said it was tempting to ask what they should be celebrating in travels and tourism when, ‘we neither have our national carrier, neither can we say that our tourism is where it ought to be at the moment’. She noted that SKAL realised that there were so many excellent individuals that could help to develop tourism in Nigeria’.

She lamented that unfortunately, because of the individual element in their efforts, they are not making as much progress as they would have done. “Simply put, all arms of tourism are doing their own things,”

she said.” The good news is that SKAL International started first and foremost on the foundation of friendship amongst colleagues.

Friendship brings trust, which is very important in any relationship. We all need each other to make it work. The hotel needs the travel agent as much as the car hire needs the tour operators. “We all need the learning institutions, the aviation and tourism institutions and the policy makers and we are happy that they are with us.

I want to use this opportunity to appeal to all stakeholders to grant all necessary support to our tourism and aviation institutions, by way of granting tourism students spaces for industrial attachment, internship, scholarship and mentorship’.

Obidike, who is also the Managing Director of Discovery Travel and Tours attributed the birth of SKAL Lagos to the pre-independence struggle and the desire by the professionals in the industry to have an international club such as the Island Club, Yoruba Tennis Club.

The inability of government to have a clear policy on tourism and the political instability in the country after independence she stated did not help the growth of new clubs.

According to her, the 1980s was a period of revival in the club of Lagos which resulted in the formation of the SKAL Club of Ibadan No. 545 on February 28, 1986