Minister Inaugurates Committee To Review Tourism Master Plan

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on
Wednesday inaugurated the Technical Committee on the Review of
Nigeria’s Tourism Master Plan, with a call on members to articulate
realistic policies that will drive tourism from the periphery to the
mainstream of the economy.

Speaking at the inauguration in Abuja, the Minister said even though
the Tourism Master Plan was designed in 2006, a plan of action to implement
it was abandoned half way hence the need for members of the committee to
review the Plan in consonance with contemporary challenges and realities and
the peculiarities of Nigeria.

“This team is to review our own Tourism Master Plan and see which
aspect of that Master Plan needs to be reviewed in consonance with
what has happened both in terms of technology, politics and even in
terms of climate change.

“We are talking about reasonable and sustainable tourism because what
we are offering to the world in terms of cultural and natural resources are also
dependent on Mother Nature, and you must make sure that we do not expend it
or expose it in a manner that children unborn will not have anything to show for
it,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said part of the drive of this administration to make
tourism one of the pillars of the nation’s economy is the
resuscitation of the Presidential Council on Tourism (PCT) and the
review of the Master Plan.

He said the Steering Committee on the PCT had already commenced the
drafting of the Council’s agenda, which will be handed over to the
President.

The Minister also disclosed the readiness of the United Nations World
Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) to assist Nigeria in the review of the
Master Plan, having contributed immensely to the drafting of the
initial plan.

He underscored the need to develop a synergy among all sectors of
government, the private sector and the local community in order to
have a multi-sectoral approach towards the development of tourism in
Nigeria.

“The thing about tourism is that it’s probably the most inclusive of
all endeavours in life,” Alhaji Mohammed said, noting that in
tourism, the Ministries of Agriculture Health, Power, Works and
Housing and even Trade and Investment are all important, ”and until
we take this on board we will not be able to transit from being a
country of huge tourism potential to a country’s who’s economy will be
driven by tourism and this is the beginning”.

Members of the Review Committee include representatives from the
Federal Ministries of Information and Culture, Interior, Budget and
National Planning, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, as
well as the National Association of Nigeria’s Travel Agencies.