By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN), has revealed intentions to begin promotion of aquatic tourism across coastal areas in Nigeria.
Nkereuwem Onung, national president of FTAN during a press briefing on Monday, said the untapped potential of aquatic tourism can generate revenue for the states along the coastline and Nigeria amid creation of job opportunities for Nigerian youths.
“It is time to show the world the business of tourism, we want to assess the water economy in Lagos State; we want people to see that lots of revenue can be generated on the waterways through tourism,” Onung said.
According to the FTAN president, in the next one year, the federation would be committed to promoting aquatic tourism across states along the coastline and ensuring that jobs are created through the sector.
“We are looking at how the government can look into that aspect of the economy, woo more investments, make the waterways safe and earn a lot of revenue from such effort”, he said.
FTAN also announced that it is hosting the Nigerian-leg of the World Tourism Day 2022 in Lagos, and particularly Takwa Bay Beach on Tuesday, September 27.
World Tourism Day 2022 is celebrated on 27 September, every year. The purpose of celebrating this day is to increase tourism internationally and spread awareness.
The theme “Rethinking Tourism” aims to inspire the debate around rethinking tourism for development, including through education and jobs, and tourism’s impact on the planet and opportunities to grow more sustainably.