Some experts in the tourism sector have urged stakeholders in Badagry, Lagos State, to embrace Community-Based Tourism (CBT) to boost its potentials.
They gave the advice on Monday, at the celebration of the World Tourism Day, under the theme: “Tourism for inclusive growth”.
Dr Babatunde Mesewaku, the immediate past Permanent Secretary, Lagos Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, said that the lack of cooperation among stakeholders in the town, was killing its tourism potentials.
According to him, CBT was a form of responsible tourism that enhances and supports the participation and involvement of the local population, living in tourism destinations and improving livelihoods.
“It is tourism of the people by the people and for the tourists or visitors.
“The basic objective is to stimulate the local economy through wealth and job creation, for the benefit of the local people,” he said.
Mesewaku said that sustainable inclusive growth by tourism, was a collective responsibility of every player in the industry, both public, private and the host community.
He said that tourism’s value chain was such a wide spectrum that included activities of travel agents, tour operators, transport providers, hotels, restaurants, handicraft and others.
The former permanent secretary advised the different stakeholders in Badagry to come together and collaborate with one another to boost the sector.
Mr Asamu Fatile, another Permanent Secretary in the ministry, urged Badagry elders to seek collaboration with a view to boosting a culture of tourism, noting, “As far as I am concerned there is no destination branding in Badagry”.
He said that there was an urgent need to professionalise tourism in Badagry through collaboration by different stakeholders.
Mr Opeyemi Ok, the former Director General, BACCIMA, said that there was no deliberate measurable thing done by Badagry councils, to boost the sector in the past four years.
Mr Peter Mesewaku, the Curator, Badagry Heritage, said that people should use the period of the World Tourism Day to visit local tourist centres and empower them.
In his remarks, Alhaji Yahaya Idris, the Chief Executive Officer, Naija Tourism Radio, identified tourism as a major economic force in the world.
Tourism, as a key component of many countries’ service export, had the power to deliver significant international earnings that can be directed to the fundamental world priority of alleviating poverty, he said.
Idris, who is also the Managing Director, Star Rise Golden International Hotel, said all hands must be on deck to move both domestic and international tourism forward.
