‘Govts should imitate Chinese approach’

Written by Austin Jacobson

Friday, 26 November 2010 22:30

Governments around the world should follow the Chinese approach to tourism, according to the UNWTO Ministers Summit at the World Travel Market in London on Tuesday. Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General UNWTO, said: “China is seeing the benefits of giving tourism a very high priority within government. It is an example other countries should try to follow.” More than 150 tourism ministers and aides attended the summit. Qiwei Shao. Chairman of the China National Tourism Administration, said the Chinese government started to listen when he was able to show that 109 other sectors were involved in tourism. Some 15 million people are employed directly in tourism, with another 85 million indirectly employed. The importance of tourism generally varies across the globe. John Penrose, Minister of Tourism of the UK pointed out that he is the first dedicated tourism minister the UK has had; Italy and Argentina have both upgraded the importance of tourism within the structure of their government. Mexico’s Tourism Minister, Gloria Guevara, said tourism was a priority for the country, which wanted to become one of the world’s top five destinations. It is already in the top 10. One way in which ministers can make their government colleagues listen is to rethink the data used to make the economic case for tourism. Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, Minister of Tourism and Aviation for the Bahamas, said the key metric should be the economic value not only arrivals. The role of the private sector in this is pivotal, the ministers insisted, although competitive concerns and the fragmented nature of the sector often prevent companies from working together. Sustainability also came up high in the summit’s agenda, with ministers told that they  needed to be more vocal in defending tourism’s environmental record. Many ministers agreed that sustainability was not only about climate change but also cultural heritage, resources and socio-economics.

Calabar Festival

Dangote Group hailed for sponsoring Calabar Carnival

Written by AUSTIN JACOBSON

Friday, 17 December 2010 21:00

Hundreds of children clad in Dangote branded T-shirts on Monday paraded the streets of Calabar, Cross River State capital in the dry run of the 2010 Calabar carnival. Dangote Group is sponsoring the children carnival holding on December 26, as well as the branding of the Governor’s booth. The dry run involved several groups of children of different ages who paraded the four kilometres distance from the Botanical Garden located near the Mary Slessor round about through Barracks Road and terminated at the Esuene Stadium. Different bands that participated in the run include Bayside band, Freedom band, Masta Blasta band, Seagull and Passion 4. Dangote Group also sponsored a showpiece dance drama written by Odia Ofeimun. The dance drama was presented last week at the Muson Centre, Onikan Lagos. The children who were full of excitement needed no prodding to dance and parade to the myriad of music coming from over a dozen open vans loaded with hi-fi sound systems and disc jockeys. It was an exciting sight to see a sea of children adorned in various colours of Dangote-branded T-shirts. The children were grouped, according to age groups and further distinguished by the colour of their T-shirts. Dansa Foods, a subsidiary of Dangote Group established various serving points along the dry run route where the participating kids were served refreshing portions of various products from the company. The children reinvigorated with the drinks danced and marched with new strength to the terminal point at the Esuene Stadium. The coming of the wife of Cross River State Governor, Mrs. Obioma Liyel Imoke, added more fun and colour as the children were excited at seeing her march along in their midst. She took personal interest in many of the children as she spent time interacting with them as well as their handlers. At the terminal point inside the main bowl of the stadium, the children and their trainers were served generous helpings of Dangote noodles, a product from another subsidiary. Charles Uwa Omoregha, General Manager, Marketing-Tourism Bureau Cross River State reviewing the dry run commended all the sponsors of Calabar Carnival 2010 especially Dangote Group for sponsoring the Children Carnival. He urged other corporate bodies to take a cue from Dangote Group in promoting the nation’s abundant cultural, natural and human resources via sponsorship of projects like Calabar Carnival. Calabar Carnival  tagged “Africa’s Biggest Street Party”, was created as part of the vision of making the Cross River State, the number one tourist destination for Nigerians and tourist all over the world. The carnival which begins every December 1 and lasts till December 31, has boosted the cultural mosaic of Nigerian people while entertaining the millions of spectators within and outside the state, and boosting industry for all stakeholders. The carnival has come a long way. It all started in 2004, when the then state Governor, Mr. Donald Duke evolved a vision of making his state the hub of tourism and hospitality both in Nigeria and Africa. The carnival presents a perfect platform from brand visibility for consumer and market awareness. “According to Mrs. Elenda Osima-Dokubo, Executive Secretary of Cross River State Carnival Commission, “The carnival aims to include more aspects of local heritage and culture and at the same time strengthen the capacity of the locals to participate in an economically beneficial way” The 2010 carnival with the theme, “Our strength and resilience: The bedrock of our future,” has kicked off with the dry runs of the various events scheduled for the main event. Mr. Liyel Imoke, Governor of Cross River State explaining the theme said, “From pre-colonialism through colonialism to the transformation to the current political process, Nigerians as a people could have been divided, but rather we have been strengthened and through resilience have built on those experiences to emerge a stronger nation. “Few nations or groups of people have remained this focused in spite of our diversity, while we have remained unified in our differences. Cross River represents a microcosm of that resilience which is the bedrock for the future of our state.” The theme he further said corresponded with the reflections of the nation as it marks its 50th Anniversary.

South Africa Tourism

Nigeria, biggest tourism market in Africa —SAT

Written by Austin Jacobson

Friday, 05 November 2010 22:30

The South Africa Tourism (SAT) Regional Director for Africa and Domestic Markets, Mr. Phumi Dhlomo has described Nigeria as a core partner and biggest tourism market in Africa, saying that South Africa Tourism has witnessed a tremendous growth of visitors from Nigeria. According to him, the increase in the number of visitors from Nigeria to South Africa keeps increasing every year and  Nigeria has now become the core market the South African Tourism in Africa. Speaking at a press conference at the Southern Sun Ikoyi Hotel in Lagos, Dhlomo said recently, the business community in South Africa came to Nigeria to hold talks with its Nigerian counterpart and this came about as a result of the fact that South Africa sees Nigeria as an important trading partner and to further strengthen the cordial relationship between the two countries. He further disclosed that SAT recently signed a marketing and working agreement with some Nigerian travel operators “because we discover that there is a lot of increase in the number of Nigerians travelling to South Africa and the signing of these marketing agreement will make it easier for many other Nigerians to access the opportunities of travelling to the country.” Clarifying issues, Dhlomo stated that the tour operators involved in the marketing agreement are not bound to procure visas for intending travellers but rather promote different activities and bring people to South Africa. They will also advise them on how to process their visas and the type of documents they require in obtaining the visas to travel to South Africa. Speaking on competition from  other  destinations in Africa, he said a lot of incentives have been lined up for tourists in Nigeria wishing to go to South Africa and coupled with the marketing agreement just recently signed between the two countries, South Africa will still command a larger part of the Nigerian market.  There was an increase in the number of tourists from Nigeria to South Africa from January to July in 2009, while in 2010 we expect to beat the number . Dhlomo said over 300,000 people travelled to South Africa to watch the World Cup and Africa had the lion share of that figure. He said as the competition progressed, more Africans came to South Africa and these further made the tourism sector more vibrant. Speaking on the global recession, he stated that despite the crunch, both countries are committed in many ways to see tourism grow between them, adding that they will intensify the marketing drive in Nigeria with their partners and also partner with radio stations in the country to boost their image.

Medica Tourism

Medical tourism to generate $100bn by 2012

Written by AUSTIN JACOBSON

Tuesday, 14 December 2010 22:30

The medical tourism sector is growing exponentially all over the world and is set to become a $100 billion sector by 2012, a new report has said. The sector is growing at a rate of 20-30 per cent annually and is bound to continue its growth pattern in the years to come. According to Frost and Sullivan, the business research and consulting firm, the medical tourism industry is currently a $78.5 billion industry, catering to over three million patients who travel around the globe for medical care. The Middle East is one of the latent source markets of patients and it is estimated that 20 per cent of healthcare seekers worldwide are from Gulf and Arab states. Significantly, patients from UAE alone spend about $2 billion in healthcare travel on an annual basis. As a result, many countries are targeting the region to woo guests and patients to their own medical tourism destinations. Germany, in particular, and Europe, in general, have been primary medical tourism hubs for hundreds of years and continue to lead the industry followed by Thailand, India and Malaysia. Boasting of an excellent healthcare system, high quality, safe and quick treatment, Germany is considered to be a top destination for patients from all over the world, and particularly from the Middle East, UK and the US. Germany is also an attractive destination for patients from the region, in terms of distance, costs and tourism attractions. A McKinsey and Company 2008 report also emphasizes that 40 per cent of medical travellers seek advanced technology, while 32 per cent seek better healthcare. Another 15 per cent seek faster medical services while only 9 per cent of travellers seek lower costs as their primary consideration. Samir Daqqaq, Senior Vice President - Development [Middle East and Africa] at Oetker Hotel Collection, said, “Middle East is one of the most important markets for us. We have been actively investing our time and resources in promoting the health benefits offered at Brenner’s Park. The rising health costs in developed countries, the opportunity to get world-class treatment coupled with the avenue to spend quality time in beautiful locales, are leading people to seek affordable health care elsewhere.”

Africas biggest hamper

Senate president unveils Africa’s biggest hamper

Written by AUSTIN JACOBSON

Tuesday, 21 December 2010 22:30

As part of its commitment to promoting cultural tourism, the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) has unveiled Africa’s biggest hamper at the on-going Carnival Calabar. The unveiling of the hamper which coincided with the flag-off of this year’s edition of Carnival Calabar was officially done by the Senate President, Senator David Mark, who was represented by Senator Ewa Henshaw. The Governor of Cross River State, Governor Liyel Imoke, and his Deputy Barr. Effion Cobhan and their wives Obioma and Gloria respectively, as well as former Senator, Mrs Ita Giwa were also present at the occasion. Senator David Mark praised the NTDC for the innovation at this year’s Carnival Calabar, urging all stakeholders in various fields to develop special unique products that are capable of bringing into the country tourists from all over the world “This carnival stands out as one of the veritable platforms on which we can achieve this purpose.  An example is what we are witnessing today, this unique and biggest cultural hamper in Africa.  This cultural hamper represents all the 36 states and FCT,” he added. Senator Mark said that with the size of the hamper, Nigeria has scored another first in product development in tourism offerings, calling on all Nigerians to work together as a people to achieve successes and goals for the nation. He commended the NTDC under the leadership of Otunba Olusegun Runsewe for always introducing tourism innovative products including “this biggest cultural hamper.”  He also commended the governor of Cross River State for sustaining this yearly carnival which today stands out as a pride to Nigeria. Speaking at the occasion, the Director General of the NTDC, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, said the hamper contains a product each from the 36 states of the federation and the FCT. “This hamper which is the biggest on the continent of Africa contains everything about Nigeria, it is about our cultural values which we cherish a lot,” he said.

Tourism can sustain global development, eradicate poverty —UN General Assembly

Written by AUSTIN JACOBSON

Friday, 24 December 2010 22:30

The United Nations General Assembly has adopted by consensus at its 65th session three separate resolutions emphasizing the role of tourism in sustainable development. The three resolutions, on the implementation of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, on the promotion of ecotourism, and on the importance of sustainable tourism for Small Island Developing States, stress the significance of the sector to the development agenda in terms of sustainability, employment, and poverty elimination. The resolutions further welcomed the efforts and work of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in promoting sustainable tourism for poverty eradication. The resolution on the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism welcomed the work of UNWTO, of its World Committee on Tourism Ethics, and the increasing level of institutional and legal commitment by member states towards the implementation of the code. The resolution recognized the need to promote the development of sustainable tourism and increase the benefits from tourism for host communities, while maintaining their cultural and environmental integrity and enhancing the protection of ecologically-sensitive areas and natural heritages. Likewise, it recognized the need to promote the development of sustainable tourism and address the challenges of climate change and halt the loss of biodiversity. The resolution further reiterated the invitation to the member states and other tourism stakeholders that have not yet done so, in particular the private sector, to integrate the principles of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism in their relevant legislation, professional practices, and codes of conduct. The resolution encouraged UNWTO, through its World Committee on Tourism Ethics and its permanent secretariat in Italy, to continue to promote and disseminate the code. It invited the UN member states and other stakeholders to support the activities undertaken by UNWTO for the promotion of responsible and sustainable tourism. The resolution on the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism encapsulated the results of the General Assembly’s consideration of a report by UNWTO and was sponsored by 32 countries, with Honduras as the lead sponsor.

Roots Festival

Roots Festival will project West Africa

Written by AUSTIN JACOBSON

Tuesday, 18 January 2011 23:30

The tourism industry is gradually becoming the mainstay of many economies in the world including Africa’s. For instance, The Gambia heavily depends on tourism, which accounts for more than 70 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP). In this interview during a tour of The Gambia, AUSTIN JACOBSON, spoke with The Gambia’s Minister of Tourism and Culture, Fatou MAS Jobe Njie, who shed more light on The Gambian government’s efforts at improving the sector. Excerpts: The private sector has been the back bone of the tourism industry in The Gambia. What is the government doing to assist the sector to achieve its full potential? The government considers the sector to be important in the development of the economy. As a result, we set up the Gambia Investment Export Promotion Agency (GIEPA) to be very close to the private sector with regard to providing them with the required back up and assistance when they want to set up a business and also encourage foreign investors to come to Gambia.  We also have the Gambia Chamber of Commerce which works very closely with the private sector and when it comes to tourism, the ministry works closely with all the stakeholders; and all the stakeholders in the tourism sector are all private-driven. So we try as much as possible to meet the needs of the private sector because the Gambia’s government is very keen and determined to support their growth and development not just the supporting but providing infrastructure that will make the sector grow to the desired level. What is the government doing to sustain inflow of tourists despite the seasonal changes? Now The Gambia has been in tourism since 1965. Some over 40 years now we have very focused and packaged tours and we relied mainly on field tour operators mainly from the UK, Scandinavia and Germany. Now these people of course are interested in the sand, sun and beaches but gone are the days when this is the concentration and a lot of other packaged destinations are being put in place. The Gambia’s government still works closely with the private sector in this area. We want to now diversify and in order to create a year round tourism calendar, there is still a lot to do. Firstly, The Gambia is still not known; let’s take Nigeria for instance, there are still many people who don’t know Gambia, when you say Gambia they say Zambia and now in other to get tourists from Nigeria and order African destinations to come to Gambia we need to create the required awareness. We have to embark on aggressive destination marketing because to us this is very important and our number one priority. We need to develop regional tourism rather than depend on packaged tours. We have to encourage individual tourism; we need to encourage packaged tours from other African countries for leisure, birthdays, conferences, seminars and business meetings because all the facilities to host these functions are on ground. Another important thing is our product development. We need to look into and redevelop our product. We have a beautiful river and within those rivers we have over 20 islands. We need to be able to create and provide the necessary infrastructure and encourage transport tourism. As a government we need to look into sports tourism and more optical tourism. we need to look into eco-tourism and looking at diversifying from the sun, beaches and sand, opening up our doors to all year round tourism and one key element the government is working on right now is aggressive destination marketing. And to this end, we have developed a five-year marketing plan and a five-year business plan to map out the way forward and to achieve these objectives. The Roots Festival is coming up very soon. As it is, it is also a way to market the Gambia’s tourism potentials. Can you explain how you intend to use the festival to further boost your marketing drive? I think Roots is like what we call heritage tourism because we are encouraging African migrants and Africans in Diaspora to come back to their roots. Recently we have started airing the Roots series on our television every Tuesdays and Wednesdays because we intend to create awareness among our people on what happened to them years back. Kontar Kunte was born in Duffrey.  Duffrey is in the Gambia and that is why we are asking the Gambians in the Diaspora to come back and experience what it is to be a true African. Because when you are out there you do not know where you are coming from or where you belong and with this particular festival we are trying to use it to encourage African migrants in America and the Diasporas to come back to the Gambia to experience the Roots Festival. They may be tourists today but they could be investors tomorrow. We are also organizing this Roots Festival to coincide with the Black History month, which is February. This is the first time the Root Festival is being organized during the high season to pick up tourism attendance because usually, it is organized in June and because of the new trend now where we encourage packaged tours it could be from Nigeria, UK and around the world to come and experience the Roots programme. We have what we call the Roots pilgrimage where tourists go through the heritage trait of Duffrey. We also have the foot and path which is the rite of passage; you remember the film ROOTS-Kontar Kunte completed the rite of passage in Duffrey before being captured so we try to take the participants through the root and path. The opening ceremony is going to be like a carnival showing the true African culture. It could show case Nigeria, Ghana, Togo or any other African country. So, we want Africans to come, not just come, but as tourists and participate in the Festival that showcases the beauty of the Gambia.

Gambia

Nigerians want comfort, value for money —Aimjnkie, Discovery Tours in The Gambia boss

Written by AUSTIN JACOBSON

Tuesday, 15 February 2011 14:52

Nigeria has the largest market and potential in tourism in the West African region and because of this many other countries, not only in the sub-region, but also across board, are coming to the country to tap these resources. AUSTIN JACOBSON spoke with Farma Njie, the proprietor and manager of Discovery Tours in The Gambia and she spoke on the moves to capture the Nigerian market among other issues. Excerpts: Tell us about Discovery Tours and the way it will benefit Nigerian market? After many years of representing the European tour market in The Gambia by organizing tours and representing local tour operators, we felt it was time to go into the Nigerian market. We have been in the European market for a long time which is seasonal and that is why we felt it is time for us to harness the Nigerian market. We also service other multi-national companies both in Nigeria and Europe and the market is improving every day. With the support of the authority we are doing well. Talking about selling The Gambia, new destination and development, can you tell us about the tourist sites been developed? It is time we look for new destinations like ecotourism, we have been going to Makasuku and Sintanuku camps using executive cruise. We have been going there for over 30 years and I think it is time to create something new. When we talk about Nigeria market, we know they are looking for comfort and you have to give them value for their money. Is your organization selling community tourism? If you are talking about Omakan, yes. It is a new concept and it needs to be encouraged, it is not everybody that likes to go to the beach. How do you intend to sell these destinations? We are going to be selling all year round, we need to enlighten people more and we should go on television and sell to locals. We should include in the school curriculum the importance of tourism and that we need a collective action to keep things going. Has business been profitable? Yes it has been but not too encouraging, we are into new products and intend to give the best of services and by the time you do this they will come back again.

Gambia

‘Nigerians will soon be rushing to The Gambia’

Written by Austin Jacobson

Friday, 18 February 2011 23:09

Tourism is gradually taking over the economies of most countries in Africa and becoming the highest employer of labour. In this interview, AUSTIN JACOBSON spoke with the Chairman of The Gambia Hotel Association Mr. Alieu Senka, who explained the impact the hospitality sector has made on the tourism industry and other innovations been introduced to boost the sector in The Gambia. Excerpts: What other aspect of attraction is been added to tourism in Gambia? The other aspect of tourism that is been added to the already existing ones is the park life, in particular, we do have 500 species of bird in the Gambia between October to February and at this very moment we are looking forward to welcoming these birds and that is why the Golden Beach Hotel is maintaining its forest habitat so that it will be a natural habitat for these bird. This certainly is one of the aspects that will bring more visitors to the Golden Beach and Gambia. As the chairman of the Gambia Hotel Association what other aspect of hospitality needs to be added to the already spectacular service in existence? This is an ongoing process. Over the years, tourism has been growing in Gambia and we want to improve the standard of service by increasing the quality of service delivery. Also, we at the Gambia Hotel Association and all the stake holders are trying to organize a training session and a refresher course to ensure that the level of service continues. We also have to make sure that our marketing strategy is properly planned and that is one of the reasons why we are pleased to welcome more and more visitors from Nigeria to experience what Europeans that have been coming to Gambia have been experiencing. I am sure there are a lot more things to be discovered from the Gambia and with the feed back we get, we hope to improve on it. What is the GHA doing to further bring other hotels in to the fold and increase the bar of excellence in the sector? As a matter of fact most hotels are members of the Gambia Hotel Association and only the recent hotels that have just come on board are not members.  Due to what we do at the GHA, most hotels want to be part of us, we represent the biggest arm in the sector in the tourism in Gambia and we also have a very effective secretariat that works well and is well recognized, we work efficiently in conjunction with the Gambian government and Gambia tourism authority together with the other stake holders in doing some marketing and other campaigns we do overseas. So we will continue in that process to be relevant and do more for the sector. Economically, what are the stake holders doing to make up for the short falls of the low season that comes with tourism in Gambia? We are working on encouraging Africans to travel during the summer to Gambia. This is because the Europeans, who come around during winter, leave the country once it’s summer time in Europe. At this period the hotels are vacant for Africans to use. Hence we are hoping to have our own African brothers come and spend vacation in Gambia. As you will also know Africans do not travel much but we intend to use the various aspects which include culture, costumes and other African background to stimulate travels by Africans to make for this short falls in the summer. We are also working on making Nigerians and other Africans to discover and come to Gambia, discover and enjoy all these things the Europeans have been enjoying particularly Africans that travel during this period.

Gambia

Gambian delegation takes destination marketing to Milan.

Written by AUSTIN JACOBSON

Tuesday, 15 March 2011 23:00

In line with the new marketing strategy, which seeks to increase awareness of destination Gambia through  direct marketing, a high level delegation comprising senior officials of the tourism and travel trade, hoteliers as well as investment executives undertook a highly effective sales Blitz in Milan, Italy from the 17th – 23rd February, 2011. The delegation was led by the Minister of Tourism & Culture  Fatou Mas Jobe-Njie (supported by following top level officials – Mr Oreme E Joiner, Chair GTA Board, Mr Alieu Secka – Chair, GHA,  Mr  Charbel Hobeika – Chair, TTAG, Ms Fatou Mbenga Jallow – CEO of GIEPA, Ms Ida Jeng Njie – Director of Tourism International (GTA) Mr Lamin Saho – Director of Marketing, GTA , Mr Baboucarr Cham- Director of Commerce- GCAA, Mr Lamin Cham – Director of Commerce GIA, Mr Juergen Odenwald – Gen. Manager, Ocean Bay Hotel as well as Ms Oumie Sise – Assistant Manager – Discovery Tours ). The campaign which lasted for one week was designed to showcase Gambia in terms of tourism attractions, investment opportunities, culture and culinary delights. The other objective seeks to increase tourist traffic between destination Gambia and Italy and at the same time boost investment and air links between the two countries. The sales blitz was a follow up to previous engagements in Italy, initiated by the Hon. Minister to drum up awareness and network with Italian Tour Operators and Investment executives. To take this engagement to another level, the delegation participated in the International Tourism Exchange (BIT MILAN) which was held from the 17th – 20th February, 2011. This trade fair serves as a magnet to attract participants from all over the world. The Gambian stand was the scene of a very effective and interactive promotional campaign for four days, to give out promotional materials and conduct series of high level meetings.  To further engage potential tourists on the unique selling points of the Smiling Coast in terms of tourist attractions and investment opportunities a Gambia Showcase and B2 B Meetings were arranged under the aegis of the Gambian Consul General in Milan to showcase the Smiling Coast as an ideal investment and tourist haven. Given the fact the Milan Campaign coincided with the 46th Independence Anniversary Celebrations, a very interactive programme was organized under the aegis of the Consul General and in attendance were a cross section of the Gambian community in Italy. The Honorable Minister was the Chief Guest of Honor and she used the opportunity to deliver the President’s Independence Anniverssary Message to the assembled dignitaries. The evening wrapped up with a cultural performance by a locally based Bouccarabou Group, to the delight of the guests. To Crown the campaign, a fashion show was organized in the Museum of Natural Arts in the heart of Milan dedicated to showcasing the rich fashion and culinary delights of the Smiling Coast. In attendance were high profile contacts in Milan, including senior officials of the Milan City council and business executives from the Lombardia region as well as a cross section of the Gambian community in Milan. This Italian campaign, which has been dedicated to showcasing the unique selling point of destination Gambia in terms of tourist attractions, investment opportunities, culture and culinary delights was rated very successful, and as pointed out by the Honorable Minister ‘this people to people contact has cemented the already excellent Bilateral relations between the Gambia and Italy as well as boost tourist flow’. As such similar campaigns will be organized in other source markets and the overall objective is to reposition the smiling coast as the most sought after destination in Africa.