Determined to use tourism to unite the fragmented African continent that had hitherto been torn apart by the individualistic tendencies of the different African countries which have continued to drag the continent back in the global space, the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) in conjunction with the Tour Operators of Union of Ghana (TOUGHA) will be leading other tour operators across the continent to South Africa to deliberate on ways to make the business of travel agencies more seamless and profitable.
Revealing this, President of the NANTA, Mrs Susan Akporiaye said to strengthen the tourism business in the continent, the South African government has agreed to host an International Travel and Tourism Conference (ITTC) in Johannesburg where tour operators from the continent will gather to deliberate on factors militating against their business and proffer solutions.
This is just as Akporiaye has announced April 27th as the date for NANTA’s 47th Annual General Meeting (AGM) coming up in Abuja.
The AGM will afford the tourism body the opportunity “to learn from experts about areas of our business that must be addressed and improved upon. No doubt, the travel world is incredibly interesting but there are also areas of concern; such as trapped funds, monopoly, unfair practices, border and visa issues and whole lot of emerging complexities.”
The theme of the AGM which is ‘Professionalism: A Key to Surviving Aviation Downstream Turbulence and Its Exploitative Effects’, will feature the Executive Vice Chairman of FCCPC Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Mr Tunde Irukera who will be speaking on not only how “NANTA can confidentially protect our businesses and clients, but also on how to navigate challenges of foreign airlines trapped funds and its impacts on our businesses.
However still speaking on the conference coming up in South Africa between May 4th and 11th, 2023, which Akporiaye described as a hybrid multi layer tourism industry conference, she revealed that the conference will be the first of its kind in Africa and even globally.
According to her, NANTA and TOUGHA, the two bodies driving the idea have “assembled the best faculty from the university of Johannesburg on tourism enterprise and related businesses, to help define and determine the immediate and future drive of the industry, its profitability, and challenges. This unique conference, which will be certificated by the University of Johannesburg, is open to individuals, organizations, and agencies in Nigeria and Ghana, particularly those with eyes on impacting positively on the growth and sustainability of the various value chains in the African cultural tourism economy.”
The NANTA President who used the occasion to acknowledge the lack of unity existing among the African countries however declared how the tour operators intend to use the conference to change the narrative.
When asked on why the two bodies involved decided to hold the conference in South Africa despite the hostility of the citizens towards Nigerians, Akporiaye argued that not all South Africans are involved in the hostility but a few elements.
She however said no matter the challenges that those in tourism profession rather than not join the bandwagon should use the business to unite and promote seamless integration and connectivity of the continent.
The hosting right which will come up every two to three years will enable the next hosting country to make adequate preparations in view of the commitment involved while the icing on the cake is that the hosting rights will be rotated amongst African countries as a way of helping to bridge the wide gap existing among the African countries.
Her words:’We need to work together to start seeing each other as brothers. We don’t need borders in Africa, we as tour operators should be able to move freely to do our business. Even if others say we don’t like each other let us unite together to change the narrative.”
Other African countries that have indicated interests in hosting the conference include: Zimbabwe, Cameroon and Ghana.
The continuous hosting of the conference by African countries Akporiaye said may give birth to a more formidable African Tourism Operations.