I think Nigeria is over-dependent on Petroleum and not much is done in the tourism sector. Those of you who been abroad will agree with me that nothing in the form of advert is made on Nigerian Tourism apart from the little that we read on the net. what do think?

If properly organised can Nigerian tourism get us serious income?

Yes, but I'd prefer if we made better use of some of the brilliant minds we have and improve the economy in other ways...

e.g.
information technology
pharmaceuticals
financial sector

Exu, yes I agree with you. Nigeria is endowed with briliant men and women but they are not "tapped", we risk having moved to Europe and America. You are staying in England so you should know. What I intended was this: Spain, Italy etc depend on tourism to move their economy forward. Why can't we do the same and stop over depending on OIL?

Nigeria they can get money from any way
so just leave them

oracle already said it." JUST LEAVE THEM."

Yes, Nigeria can make money anywhere she want to.... like 419 has become the 4th highest way of bringing funds to Nigeria, Crude oil being the first

Hello,

im living in Germany and i have been to Nigeria twice (only :-( ). I think if there would be some better offers for Tourists, they will surely come. Look at Kenya, South Africa, Egypt. Everybody is travelling there. But Nigeria??

If you go to a Travelling agency and you want to book holidays in NIgeria, they will stare at you. Yes you can book the flight, but no way to book a hotel.
you can only book hotel by yourself via Internet. But if you dont know anything about NIgeria or maybe you want to go to the country-side, you cant find a proper Hotel. This scares Tourists away. I dont know any German, that would love to travel to Nigeria without having a booked hotel and a bit of comfort. If this one would be possible, you could have a lot of Tourists.

greetz

fumi

Hey Zeus

Great topic and thanks for the invite. Because we have Oil and Gas and out corrupt leaders are clearly fixated on those resources, we have not developed or rather tapped into our other natural resources.We can not make money from tourist externally, because you need to security for people coming to your country and even indigenes do not feel secure talkless of foreigners. But Nigerians also are to blame, we abandon Obudu Cattle Ranch and go to London in the winter to shop,(Ha Ha). Here in the US, Americans will have visited Orlando or Miami before they go to France. Or if they want to Ski the will go to Colorado before going to Switzerland. But the person writing this post is also guilty of abandoning Naija. I guess if i was offered something other than family, i will go to Naija for Holiday instead of Kenya.

But anyway Thanks for the Invite.

There is a big tourism project going on at TINAPA, Calabar, if that succeeds, many other attractions in Naija may pick up life. Yankari is a potentiall safari in waiting as well as the beaches in Lagos if they r managed well.

Kok and Omon, thanks for your positive contributions. I've seen that you guys are both in the States and Uk. I'm in Rome and you'll understand why I'm particularly sensitive to tourism. I'm here strickly for studies but when my friends here ask me important places to visit in Nigeria, I get lost. Its true that the Cross River State government is doing alot to improve tourism in the state like fumi said. I so much appreciate that, but tourism will grow faster, at least I presume like here in Italy, once we develop tourist villages, manage by the private sector and not by government. Yesterday, I was in a bookshop to look for a book on Nigeria and I was told that nothing was written on Nigeria with regards to tourism. Just like Fumi said, much is written on Kenya and even Niger Republic. I equally agree that Nigeria still has to battle with its security problem otherwise tourists wouldn't come. Less I forget, If anyone has a photograph of a good site in Nigeria, please post it. I saw the one on Olumo Rock. That was nice. Wishing all a happy New Year.

Check out the Croos river state website here, http://www.crossriverstate.com/ and the TINAPA project at http://www.tinapa.com/. I think what we need is an image promotion. Security in Naija is not exactly worse than some tourist destinations all over the world.

Omon

Many times we want to be Positive about that country, but if i were a potential Tourist and wanted to go to west Africa on Vacation and i am doing research, i will look at Ghana or even Senegal as more suitable locations. When people hear of Sosoliso and Bellview and read The state dept website recommendation for Nigeria, there is not much to defend. The Tinapa project is a great Idea, i just hope that we can begin our charity @ Home. Virgin/Nigeria,BA,KLM,Lufthansa and the rest are always fully booked carrying Nigerians to popular destinations abroad.

If we need to make money from Tourism, Nigerians need to take the lead and go to Locations in Naija first b4 flying all over the place. But local travel is very dangerous in Nigeria and tourist will need assurances to get to those locations.

Bottom Line we can make money in Tourism with more local content.Hell we have the population that can patronize our vacation spots.

Kokscity, perhaps it should start with you visiting calabar and informing your American colleagues rather than going to Ghana. Ghana's airspace is not fantastic. They are equally trying to raise up their moribund airline by going into partnership with a foreign airline. It seems they are copying Nigeria on that. That said, if Nigerians (or should I say Americans) like your come back to their homeland for holidays and give it some respect in your discourse, perhaps, the perception others have might change.

That Nigeria has a long standing history of security problem, we can refute. The difference between Ghana and Nigeria is that Ghana can copy Nigeria by going into partnership with a foreign airline to save her national carrier but Nigeria cannot copy Ghana to make NEPA function. One thing, I think the Nigerian Government doesn't know is that the economy of any country cannot grow without power and untill we settle the NEPA problem, we will never grow. If this is true, it means our new founded interest in tourism is doomed like many other Nigerian thing or the operational cost will be very heavy to bear. Going back to security problem, we all know that cell phone numbers are sold in Nigera without document. This is VERY SERIOUS and I think we are building a security problem, we will soon have to combat with. Without security, we can develop our tourism, at lesast I think so.

I actually wanted to hear a lot more before posting on this topic. I work for one of the largest tour operators in the UK, for Africa we do packaged tours to The Gambia, Egypt, Kenya, Tunisia and Morocco.

Its all about perception, we do Egypt even though its security situation is a bit similar to Nigeria because of the constant threat of terrorist attacks.(Personally i'll feel more safer in Nigeria than Egypt  )
When i say perception, if you ask anyone to say the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Egypt, they'll tell you the Pyramids, Sphinx, the Nile etc. No one will mention anything about the recent terrorist attacks or the recent political turmoil in the country.
Ask anyone to tell you the first thing that comes to mind when you mention Nigeria, and it's probably corruption, political turmoil, civil war (yes some people still think there's a civil war in Nigeria)

If Nigerians don't sell 'Nigeria' no one else will. People will want to visit Nigeria even if there's a war going on if there's something in the country they want to see. We need to publicise Olumo Rock, Yankari game reserve, Obudu ranch, Zuma rock etc. Include pictures of these places at all our embassies abroad, at our airports etc. Like someone said in a previous post, Nigerians have to visit these places as well instead of rushing abroad for holidays.
   
Most foreigners think Lagos, Kano or the Niger delta is 'Nigeria' and do not realise that Nigeria is double the size of France, and that if there's trouble in one part of the country it doesn't mean the whole country is on fire.
Nigerians also have to be diplomatic when criticising the country especially around foreigners. People don't realise the 'monster' they create when they say things carelessly about the country. Yes we have problems and you can say whatever you like when you're among fellow Nigerians, but not in front of non Nigerians, because when things improve they will have no idea about it, but they'll always remember the horrible things you said.

There's an old white guy where i work who spent many years living in Nigeria (in the 70s and early 80s) and this guy has travelled all over Nigeria and even married an ibo woman. He has nothing but love for the country and would not hear a bad word about Nigeria. He always tells me that Nigerians are the friendliest people he has ever met. Now thats something we can use in a tourist brochure  .

The government has to play a major role and of course it has to deal with the electricity, security and road situation but it also needs to allow easy entry into the country as in abolish visas for short stays.
if people can contemplate that iraq http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/09/0903_030903_traveleriraq.html can be the next tourist hot spot, then may be there's hope for Nigeria if we can get our act together.

@Ijebuman,

How do we change the perception of our populous, b4 we can even start changing hearts and minds of tourist with hard currency. I think tourism in Nigeria has never in the history of our country, been a focal point of attraction for indigences and foreigners alike. I hate sounding like a pessimist, but how do i tell sell Nigeria to someone that is looking @ doing a 5nights 6days safari in Kenya?

Thank you Ijebuman.  I think the major problem we have as Nigerians is that we the exotic and never the indeginous.  If someone goes to Sudan 2morrow and comes back to say it is the best place to live, you will see people flying over there.  There is a lot more to Nigeria than the madness in lagos.oi

If we focus on the good aspects of our society, others we learn to respect us. Like Ijebuman said, the media and people of south africa, egypt, even iraq decided to focus on the good in the land (even the blacks in south africa are not crying out loud in their country), that is why they have earned the respect of others.

@ Omon

Do u actually believe that a country with nearly 150million people and nearly 15million abroad, have not talked positive about Nigeria. I think your sentiments for your country run a little bit too high and make you distort the facts a lot. Think of yourself as a tourist say from ehhhhh New Zealand, you have a two week Vacation and you have a choice of Ghana,Kenya, SA,Nigeria, Botswana,Egypt of even Ethiopia. Which one would you go to. Trust me Tourist do more research than you give them credit for. The truth is that when you think of Naija as a tourist all you know is that there is Advanced Fee Fraud and Oil. That is not a perception, that is for real. Now these people can only Land in Lagos,Kano,ABJ or PH. Then you expect them to ignore their experience in Lagos but just think of what Calabar had to offer?

Listen people fly into DC but are whisked thru the NW part of the city.People go to Chicago and do not need to the South side,People go to NY and straight to Manhattan,you go to London and can just do central London, or head to Brighton or fly directly to Manchester. My point is i hope there will be a flight from Accra to Tinapa or Obudu cattle ranch, or to the game reserve and give these tourist what they came for. Sights,sounds and relaxation.

Build it and they will come. In Nigeria's case it is Build it well,offer security and they might come.
Trust that many tourist thru word of mouth have told other not to waste their money on Naija,especially when there are great alternatives an hour away just head west!!!

If na u be tourist you for go Naija on Vacation? Haba put yourself in their shoes, they do not have family nothing, all they do is rely on the government for protection. U for Go? Talk True...

Single Entry Visa to Naija from Yankee $100 AND YOU WANT PEOPLE TO COME AS TOURIST?
That is a Joke. South Africa,Brazil,all free infact you can go to Jamaica with your US driver's license. Please my brother let us call it like we see it. It does not matter how hard we talk, the government has to create the scenario for tourism and maybe Nigerians might even patronize their own facilities.
Donald Duke i must say is doing a good Job in Calabar/Tinapa.That is a rare example and i plan to visit when it is complete. The cable cars in Obudu a great Idea.

Kokscity,, i will rest my arguement here... The reason people from New Zealand won't come to Nigeria is when they read comments that come from people like you on the internet. I gave you an example of Trinidad, I am msure you never bothered to check it out. Pls search for Trinidad newspaper on the internet and in a week come back and tell me if the security there is better than what we have in Naija. There are basically at least, one murder everyday.

There is an aiport in calabar and an air strip in Bebi, close to Obudu for tourists who wish to go there by air, so they don't need to go into Lagos. The reason, people have not been coming to Nigeria is because Nigeria has not fashioned out a tourism masterplan, so they are only building those blocks now. Ghana has been in the forefront of tourism, that is why it is better there, and Ghanians don't run their country down even when things are equally tough there. You only went to Accra and claim to have gone thru Ghana...they have their very vivi problems too.

And if you don't know, I love my country and will continue to love it. There is hope and I am seeing it..

Kokscity:

How do we change the perception of our populous, before we can even start changing hearts and minds of tourist with hard currency. I think tourism in Nigeria has never in the history of our country, been a focal point of attraction for indigences and foreigners alike. I hate sounding like a pessimist, but how do i  sell Nigeria to someone that is looking @ doing a 5nights 6days safari in Kenya?

ok here's how you do it
A safari in kenya, why not tell them about Yankari national park in Nigeria

Yankari Games Reserve
The Yankari National Park is the premier game reserve in Nigeria. Yankari Park and Wikki Warm Springs are located around the Gagi River, approximately one hour 30 minutes by road, southeast of Bauchi Town. The beauty and size of The Yankari Game Reserve make it the most pop­ular reserve in Nigeria.

Set up in 1956 and opened to the public in 1962, the main game-viewing areas of the reserve are open all year round. Japanese, Western Europeans, Americans and Southeast Asian tourists visit this park in abundance.

The reserve covers 2,058 sq. km. of savanna wood­land and is well stocked with elephants, baboons, waterbucks, bushbucks, oribi, crocodile, hippopotamus, roan antelope, buffalo and various types of monkeys. Lions are occasionally spotted as well, despite their natural cam­ouflage. The best time to visit is between November and May, when tourists are likely to see more game since the dense vegetation has dried out and the animals congregate around the rivers.

Wikki Warm Springs
The Wikki Warm Springs is one of the best features of the game reserves. Flood-lit at night, it is wonderful after a hot day’s game viewing to relax in the warm water. The spring gushes out from under a cliff, where the water is at least 6 ft. deep, with a bathing area that extends for 600 ft. to an open area. The park is inhabited by a variety of birds, including the huge sad­dlebill stork, golliath heron, bateleur eagle, vultures, kingflshers, bee-eaters and more. It is excellent for serious bird-watchers.

Other facilities include: Tennis courts, squash courts, a small museum in the reception area plus gas stations with convenience stores at Wikki Camp and Bauchi.

source: http://www.hiddenparadise1.com/sites.htm

Other info on Yankari
http://www.internationalspecialreports.com/africa/99/nigeria/5a.html
http://www.uni.edu/gai/Nigeria/Pictures/yankari.html
http://www.westafricabush.com/yankari.htm (with nice pictures)

@@ Kokscity
Here's what a fellow American  had to say about the tourist potential of Nigeria

...although the tourism infrastructure in Nigeria is not as developed as in other places in Africa, Nigeria offers perhaps the best variety of tourist attractions and destinations in West Africa. American tourists will discover numerous unique scenic attractions which differ from one place to another scattered throughout Nigeria that will allow them to experience and enjoy the people of Nigeria as they come in contact with the fascinating history, ancient traditions and varied customs of Nigeria's proud heritage. The members of TCI's delegation found that by conducting this FAM Tour, we discovered an unseen section of the African Continent once considered to be 'well off the beaten path' and thus gained a greater appreciation of Nigeria's people, culture and history.
read the full article: http://www.africa-ata.org/nigeria_broadus.htm
Nigeria: A tourism destination full of challenge by Helen C. Broadus: Africa Travel Magazine

Places of interest in Nigeria
http://www.nigeriabusinessinfo.com/places.htm
http://www.nigeria.gov.ng/tourism.aspx
http://www.voiceofnigeria.org/nigeria/landscape.html (pictures)

@ Omon

We can agree to disagree, and i think we have strong opinions, that maybe based on our experiences in life. But on my last trip to Nigeria, I did go to Obudu cattle ranch and infact i flew Aero to Bebi from PH. I spent my hard earned money in Naija and i visited at least 8 states in 6weeks. But i also went to Kenya last year, and even in Ghana, my experience was much better. And if i looking for a bang for my buck and i am a tourist, i will not be visiting Naija.By the in Ghana, i went to Accra,Kumasi,tema,cape coast (That was cool). But anyway from an unbiased position, i could not compare those countries. Mombasa has to be one of the most beautiful places i have been to.

@Ijebuman

Next time i am in Naija i will do the Yankari Game Reserve.Pictures really look good, i will head to Bauchi..........

Thanks

Ijebuman

Ur company does not do a package for Nigeria? Now if you r the biggest in the UK, i am scratching my head and wandering why you guys don't go to the most populated and biggest country in West Africa? Hmmmmm tell us where your clients go and why, now for those reasons i think we know why Nigeria is not a huge tourist destination.

I went to a Local Tours and Travel person yesterday and told them i wanted to visit Africa and i needed suggestion, they did not know i was Nigerian, they thought i was African American. I had a budget of $2000 FOR FOOD,Ticket and Hotel and sightseeing. U know we talked for about 30Min's and Nigeria was not even mentioned or suggested and i even told her that she should stick to East and west Africa.

Kokscity:

Ijebuman

Ur company does not do a package for Nigeria? Now if you r the biggest in the UK, i am scratching my head and wandering why you guys don't go to the most populated and biggest country in West Africa? Hmmmmm tell us where your clients go and why, now for those reasons i think we know why Nigeria is not a huge tourist destination.

I went to a Local Tours and Travel person yesterday and told them i wanted to visit Africa and i needed suggestion, they did not know i was Nigerian, they thought i was African American. I had a budget of $2000 FOR FOOD,Ticket and Hotel and sightseeing. U know we talked for about 30Min's and Nigeria was not even mentioned or suggested and i even told her that she should stick to East and west Africa.

There are things happening but like i said in an earlier post they have no idea of what Nigeria has to offer. The large tour operators in the UK don't go into virgin territory, they let some other small company do the hard work and then they buy them up

Our clients base their choice on what they see in our brochures or on our website, if we put Nigeria in it with nice pictures of the beach and a nice woman with a bikini on, they will go there (its what we call 'marketing' )

I think security and image probs have to be adressed first. At times even nigerians in Nigeria bring down the country's image by stealing 4rom the tourists.
Example is that of a british man waylayed from lagos airport on his first visit to Nigeria, and all his valuables collected 4rom him. People where waiting 4 him outside, but the hoodlums were on the inside and got to him first. The British paliamentarians also who were asked 4 additional fees b/because there visa was 'fake'. All these need to be curtailed. As an example i was lost on my first visit to Schipol(amsterdam). anybody that saw me would know, but they did not take advantage of me, rather they helped me till i could figure out my way. That kind of experience leaves a positive mark on your life 4 ever. If somebody asks me about the dutch, il alwayz say they are wonderful.

Some people in the U.S told me that when they visited Nigeria for the first time and saw all the extended family waiting 4 them thay were overjoyed. The people even organized religious services inside the house 4 family members only. At the end of the day however, when most of those who came for the religious services had gone, these guyz also discovered that most of their valuables had gone with them and that was that. They still say Nigerians are one of the most friendly people on earth, but they don't know if they want to go back.

ijebuman, I so much appreciate your contribution to this discussion as an expert in the tourism sector, especially with regards what you called "marketing" Nigerian Image. With No Intension of taking much of your Time. Can you list here for us other Tourism websites WITH PICTURES, where one can visit? I'll so much appreacite it. My major problem is that I've read must of Potential tourist sites in Nigeria with seeing how they look like. The Nigeria Embassy in US, for instance, has a good package in their website but no pictures of these places are shown in the site.

@ Ijebuman

I know this comment might be coming in a bit late on this topic , but i fought it very interesting and heart lifting on ways of improving and marketing the tourism potential we have in Nigeria. come to think of it what tourist attraction is there in Finland for example, where i reside that you get to see a lot of Chinese and Japanese tourists all around clicking and snapping pictures everywhere? nothing compared to the kind of weather,safari and lots of beautiful natural beach all over Nigeria.People want to see and feel real life situations and experience that will last in their memory.

I personally in my class as a Tourism Management student in Finland has always made people around me to know what obtains in the Nigerian Tourism industry.

Most popular tourist destinations are visa-free for European and American nationals, who make up the majority of tourists to Africa.

Nigeria needs to improve greatly on her security for foreign nationals visiting the country and scrap the visa fee. I can't see anyone desperate enough to get in to Nigeria that they would go through the hassle of lining up for a visa in an unruly embassy and paying $100 or 40 pounds onto top of their package holiday price when they can go to many other African destinations visa free.

EloSela:

Most popular tourist destinations are visa-free for European and American nationals, who make up the majority of tourists to Africa.

Nigeria needs to improve greatly on her security for foreign nationals visiting the country and scrap the visa fee. I can't see anyone desperate enough to get in to Nigeria that they would go through the hassle of lining up for a visa in an unruly embassy and paying $100 or 40 pounds onto top of their package holiday price when they can go to many other African destinations visa free.

This is not the problem. You need to define what you want. Nigeria does not need mass tourist or sex tourist like in Phuket.

Bostwana/Maledives etc is damn expensive. They look for HIGH-END tourists not some hungry backpackers.

That said. Nigeria should rather focus on encouraging and developing internal tourism.

We should travel more locally for tourism and these depends on good infrastructure + Security.

I haven't been to Nigeria. But it seems to me the main problem is infrastructure. Nigeria has one of the worst air safety records in the world and it's not just the planes, it's bad runways as well. No tourist would like to risk a crash while getting to the destination. Then, there's the NEPA problem - a tourist from a developed country won't accept power shortages that can cause interruptions in air conditioning and other devices he can't live without. I could go on, but this alone is enough to scare off the tourists.

Also, to attract tourists a country must have its unique attraction, because beautiful landscapes are to be found in many places. Egypt has the pyramids, nobody else has them. Zambia has the Victoria Falls, biggest waterfall in the world, wow. The question is, what does Nigeria have that is nowhere else to be seen?

The question is, what does Nigeria have that is nowhere else to be seen?

what does Thailand have and is nowhere else?

what does Bali have and is nowhere else?

what does Mexico have and is nowhere else?

what does Sri-Lanka have and is nowhere else?

U never talk of the security of naija ppl finish, u dey talk of turing the place to a place for welcoming visitors. how does that work?