June 2012

Tourism-Travel-Leisure News Undiluted

Vol.2 Issue 7, June 2012

ISSN: 2276-8319

$4.00, N500.00

On The Steve Oronsaye Committee To Merge NIHOTOUR And NTDC

By Lucky Onoriode George

T

L-R: Travel Manager, Mr Keith Lloyd; Deputy Lieutenant and Representative of the Queen, Col. Roderick Morris, Group Executive Chairman, Chief S.P. Phillips, Speaker of the London Borough of Hackney, Cllr. Susan Fajana-Thomas, and Principal, Peacock College, UK at the official opening ceremony of Peacock Group in London recently.

Govt Agencies, Operators Should Be Blamed For Rot In The Aviation Sector –Tukur Although foreign airlines pay tax, they, however, shouldn’t be flying regional routes. There are gaping holes in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority [NCAA] Act; passengers are being ripped off by local operators and the Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi, Minister of Aviation fight between Arik and British Airways may even further hurt tella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi, the former.These, among others, the minister of aviation, is are the submissions of Mohambeing fed untruths about med Tukur, a former manager the health of the aviation sector. at Chanchangi Airlines and now

S

Assistant Secretary General of Airline Operators of Nigeria [AON], in a recent interview with the African Travel Times.

Asked what really is the bone of contention between the Aviation Ministry, on the one hand, and British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, on the other, Turkur says, “Let us get it very clearly: the whole thing started when Arik Air complained to the Federal Ministry of Aviation over the

Human Capital Devt: Biggest Challenge of Nigeria’s Travel And Tourism Sector – FTAN President

much talked about slot on its Abuja-London route. The issue systematically drifted from slot to airfare.

“How we got there, I don’t know, because I can tell you categorically that it is a lost battle.

As a Nigerian, I will advise Arik Air management to concentrate on their business by building relationships and partnerships which, at the moment, they do not have,

See full interview from page 9

Continued on page 6

ourism industry stakeholders body, Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria [FTAN], has expressed reservation on the recommendation of the Presidential Panel on Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, headed by former head of the Civil Service of the Federation Mr. Steve Oronsaye to scrap or merge the only public training tourism institution in Nigeria with another agency in the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation perceived to be barely delivering on its mandate.

The committee, it was gathered, recommended the merger of National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism [NIHOTOUR] with the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation [NTDC] with the latter elevated to a commission and would be charged with marketing, promoting, regulation as well as training.

The committee noted that it was wasteful to continue to allow NIHOTOUR to operate as a separate parastatal in its wisdom since “it has not been able to justify its existence as the capacity building arm of the tourism industry”.

The prescription to effect alludes that NIHOTOUR’s existence amounts to sheer waste and amounts to government funding an institute that claims to provide capacity for hospitality and tourism services when indeed, there exists many private firms providing same services. It reportedly felt that an enlarged tourism commission would be able to handle the functions performed by NIHOTOUR, including regulation.

The committee’s recommendation, it was gathered, apart from lacking any merit, was reached without due consultation with the private sector who are at the receiving end of the recommendation, if implemented.

Apart from the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism [NIHOTOUR] being the only such institution in Nigeria, its Continued on page 6

June 2012 3

Publisher’s Note

Lucky Onoriode George

F

or quite some time now, many Nigerians, including my humble self, had overlooked the seriousness of standards compromises and the danger of lacklustre service delivery posed by the various operators in the travel and tourism industry. From the airlines operators to accommodation providers and service operators, the level of standard compromises has reached an alarming proportion.

Not until recently, I’ve never really appreciated the magnitude of the compromises until I checked into a hotel in the heart of Ikeja in Lagos State.

Apart from the reckless services available in some of our hotels, the non conformity with hotel building standards, are indeed matters for great worry, as they’re also rather scandalising.

The poorly trained staff in these hotels constitutes huge embarrassment and let-down, to say the least, not only to their immediate patrons but also to the nation’s fledgling tourism industry in general.

African Travel Times’ investigations can reveal that most of these types of hotels are mostly run by individual investors and sometimes family members who themselves do not understand the rudiments of hotel management.

While the owners and operators may be excoriated for offering substandard services to the public, regulatory government agencies and tourism industry operators are also to be blamed for seemingly looking the other way, while the charlatans run their show with utter impunity.

The Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation [NTDC], government’s apex tourism body whose responsibility it is to register and regulate the sector, has no doubt failed to do its job.

As the president of the Federation of Tourism Associations [FTAN], Chief Samuel Alabi, rightly observed recently in an interview with African Travel Times, all that government is interested in is the revenue they generate from these types of hoteliers.

Alabi noted that he has not heard or read anywhere officials of the relevant federal agency, state or even local government paid unscheduled visit to any hotel or accommodation provider, demanding to inspect rooms of such business premises for compliance with regulatory standards.

FTAN president’s concerns were also echoed by Alhaji. Mohammed Tukur, an aviation consultant and assistant executive secretary of Airline Operators of Nigeria [AON], who stated that government officials are the ones fuelling the regime of standardscompromises by turning a blind eye on airline operators in the country.

Tukur warned that the country’s air transport system is seating on a gun powder that can explode anytime, because operators are barely surviving the harsh and difficult business climate in Nigeria.

African Travel Times can only call on government agencies and the tourism federation to play their roles by encouraging their members to do what is right for the benefit of Nigeria and Nigerians as well as other tourism facilities users.

Page

ABC Transport Plc Introduces Smart Coach In Nigeria

8

Nigerian Students Urged To Emulate Mandela’s Leadership Qualities

Page

18

Publisher/Editor Lucky Onoriode George Winner, European Commission Lorenzo Natali Prize for Journalists Reporting Development, Human Rights and Democracy Researchers Richard Debrah, Ike Ikechukwu, Bisoye Bankole

Contributing Editors Kola Raji, Bridget Obi, Kirk Leigh, Onome Fasan

African Travel Times Is A Publication Of Tourism Today Communications Office Theodak Plaza, Opp National Hospital, Suite 307, Central Business Area, Abuja

Contact: E-mail: info@travelafricanews.com www.travelafricanews.com

16

Hackney Is A Strategically Important Commercial CentreFajana

TEAM

,

Page

P. O. Box 6250, Festac Town, Lagos.

Tel: +234-8033546608, 08057984769

4 June 2012 because I’m convinced the airline has the capacity and as such they can compete with the likes of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic here in Nigeria, but not abroad.”

He maintains that to survive the tough competition, the management of Arik Air has to build inter airline relationship, through which they can move their passengers to other airlines, whenever they have issues, because on head-to-head, they are no match for the big, strong and reliable international carriers, which is why many Nigerian officials find British Airways and sometime Virgin Atlantic schedules very attractive.As such, the business class of these two airlines becomes hot cake and demands for seat sky rockets.

“If an airline says that its business class is $12,000.00, there are other airlines and options. Why the noise over British Airways for God sake?” He queried.

“Airline business is expensive. If all Nigerian banks come together to buy a brand new average plane, we won’t have any money in bank vaults from which we can make withdrawal via our accounts the following morning. What the government and its agencies have been doing in the last few months is nothing but a display of arrogance and ignorance.”

He said, the issue over airfares is not about the ordinary Nigerian that flies British Airways, because complaints are about business class. The economy fare remains competitive and many Nigerian travellers are not complaining. However, should the government and its agencies find something different from what we have been told, then that is airfare fixing.They should come out and prosecute them because that is illegal anywhere in the world.

Asked whether it’s true that foreign airlines do not pay taxes, Turkur said it is not true that they do not pay taxes. “I can say to you and confirm clearly that there is no British company or any other international company operating in Nigeria that would not pay taxes, if there are no Nigerians involved,” he stated.

“Government should ask its agencies. I know that foreign airline taxes, especially the $35.00, which the airlines collect from travellers, are paid to government as withholding tax goes to the Federal Inland Revenue Service; the leadership of that agency should be able to tell Nigerians who has or hasn’t been paying. These are all blackmail by some individuals and backed by people in government.”

He observed that as far as airfare is concerned, “I do not think that any international airline has breached any law or regulation, provided they have not come out openly to say they have increased airfares. Same goes for the local airlines, except with the prior approval of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority [NCAA].

However with the loopholes in the existing laws and regulations, that allow airlines to adjust their fares without permission or approval from NCAA, I repeat again, the government and its agencies are fighting a lost battle.”

He maintains that “over the years, what we normally do as operators that know the laws and the regulations, is to bypass the term ‘fare increment’ and use ‘fare adjustment’ to achieve fare increment; and government and its agencies are aware of this and still refuse to abrogate the NCAA Act, which remains flawed in this area.

“I can confirm to you that all fare adjustments are fares increment, and until that law is abrogated or the clause is removed, no foreign airline or local operator

Alhaji Mohammed Tukur,

...Agencies, Operators Should Be Blamed will be found liable for prosecution or would be accused of breaching any law.”

He talks about what the minister should be rather fighting. He says, “To clear the doubts, the ministry and the National Assembly should expedite action in ensuring that the NCAA Act that has this anachronistic clause in this modern age and era is changed.

“To repeat what I said earlier, it is the stupid game of cat and mouse.You know the law and I know how to beat the law.

Whenever there is fuel or aviation fuel price increment or adjustment by oil marketers, we too circumvent the law by saying we adjust our fares; hence we are not allowed to use the word increment of fares without NCAA approval.

“African Travel Times is the only paper that I am divulging this information to because you seem to have done your homework properly and you deserve the truth, so that Nigerians can be liberated from the unfaithfulness of government and its agencies who are deceiving Nigerians.

“If the NCAA Act is amended to say whether adjustment or increment, every operator must write to the relevant government agency for approval, giving all supporting reasons for that, the issue of airfare dichotomy will not arise in the first place.

“At the moment, we the operators, either local or international, have upperhand or we will continue to exploit the loophole in the law to our favour justifiably or not.

“The standard everywhere in the world is that, before any airline start flying into your country, you must have submitted your manual, in case of Nigeria, for

approval and must state clearly your types of aircraft, your routes, fares, among others.

All the public hearing on the British Airways fares disparity so far are not addressing what we should be looking at.”

He maintains that some of the operators are just trying to pull down the managing director of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria [FAAN], Dr. Harold Demurin, as someone who does not understand what he is doing.

Why is it that the operators of Nigerian airlines have no regards for passengers; they shift flights and cancel them with impunity?

He says,“This is a regrettable situation, and I must confess that that was not the standard we all signed up to uphold when applying for Air Operator's Certificate [AOC].

“During my time at Chanchangi, I recall one incident in which there were no crew to fly almost 160 passengers after several delays by us. I went to the passengers, talked to them and offered those that would want to stay till the following day information regarding when we would be able to fly them to their destination, Abuja. We put all of them at Lagos Sheraton Hotel and Towers, with meals. We then gave them free return tickets for their next journey.

“That is the rule; and I complied with it.

Regrettably, today, no local operator does that anymore, even when the laws are there, but nobody is implementing them. Sincerely speaking, I put the blame on the doorstep of NCAA because it’s their responsibility to ensure compliance by operators.

“Again, I sympathise with NCAA, because when you are close to someone or an organisation, you tend to understand the problems of the sector–and NCAA is aware of the various charges by aviation parastatals, bank loans and other challenges we are faced

with in Nigeria.

“NCAA’s failure to do its job by monitoring and ensuring compliance with minimum standard emboldens operators to delay and cancel flights with impunity at the expense of the Nigerian travelling public.

“Time past, when one operator cancels its flight, we ensured that we put them on any available flight that is on ground. However today, all that collaboration has gone. The question is, why?

He illuminates also on why there is a dearth of inter airline relationship locally? According to him,“One of the main reasons is that more than 13 airlines went under and that reduced capacity. Before now, we had Sosoliso, Dasab,ADC, Bellview,Al-barka, Spaceworld, EAS, among others.

“Before the recapitalisation, we did have flights going to different routes every 30 minutes or thereabout.Today, it is no longer so.

“Recapitalisation in the aviation sector was very cruel a policy. What we were asked to do was to act like the bank, take raw cash to the Internal Revenue Service and they stamp and give you a piece of paper, saying you have recapitalised. Meanwhile, that money is taken away completely from your operation, and at the end, you run to the bank; and you know what bank interest rates are like in the country.

“I know people who paid cash that time and they never returned to operation again, after recapitalising.

Meanwhile, those who understand the business went about it the wise way

June 2012 5

Dr Harold Demuren, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority [NCAA]

d For Rot In The Aviation Sector –Tukur by putting their assets on the line and just go to the authority to make some cash deposit against those assets.

“The owner of EAS Airlines and current governor of Kogi State was a victim; and that was how he lost the airline completely because he was so scared and not even NICON Air survived.”

He insists that by aviation rules in Nigeria,“if any operator failed to fly for four consecutive weeks, your Airline Operators Certificate [AOC] is gone.

“For instance, if your only plane is doing its last landing today for one reason or the other, effective today, you must have a replacement flying in your name or have logged in to fly a route before the last minutes of the 4-weeks or else, that AOC is gone no matter how many billions of naira it cost you.

“Talking of capacity, the scenario I painted cuts down our local capacity drastically.

Today, if you approach any airline with possibility of taking your passengers for you, there is the possibility of that airline even over-booked.

“That is why during every celebration or holiday, we witness large number of people struggling to travel.With the coming of FirstNation Airlines, the situation is improving.

“Again, because of some of the airlines’ preference for regional operations, local routes suffer shortages.

“In Nigeria today,Arik Air is the largest with good planes and capacity, but there is nothing stopping them from positioning one aircraft in Ghana to service that route effectively. However, most Nigerian airlines prefer to have local and regional routes with same planes, which is why we have delays and cancellations all the

time, because you cannot eat your cake and have it.

“Presently, there is no Ghanaian investor that can run an airline that can fly out of Ghana. Same goes for Mali or The Gambia, though Banjul is not yet Category 1. Because of that, you now have international airlines like Emirates and Lufthansa doing regional flights. For instance, Emirates does Accra-Lagos-Accra and Lufthansa Airlines does Abuja-Lagos-Accra and back through same routes.

“This is unacceptable and the regional government must find solution to this imbalance by establishing a regional airline to create jobs and convenience for our people.

“The market is there and we must stop these foreign airlines from doing international and regional services.

“Here in Nigeria, we must stop Air France and Lufthansa from flying directly to Port Harcourt via Lagos where they put Nigerian passengers on transit in Nigeria. If they are so serious in flying Port Harcourt, let their flight originate from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris directly to Port Harcourt because people from that part of Nigeria deserve direct flights and comfort; but to put them on transit in Nigeria is unacceptable.

“If they so desire to do so, they should apply for multiple landing in Nigeria which we can also generates money from because of the open sky agreements. If the international airlines are allowed to do local flights, what do they expect local operators to do?

“There are local airlines that can offer their passengers smooth local connections. Arik Air has the capacity and I am convinced that they can position a plane

at every time their flights arrive Lagos or Abuja.”

He observed that during Isa Yuguda tenure as aviation minister, no foreign airline enjoyed such unnecessary privilege.

Given that Arik Air has the capacity, he speaks of what they can do to assume that responsibility? “To achieve that collaboration or inter airline agreement with any of the international airlines, Arik Air must be a member of the International Air Transport Associations [IATA],” he said.

“Currently, its membership has been withdrawn, because without that it cannot seal any deal and it must also belong to IATA Operational Safety Audit [IOSA]. Arik Air needs every business it can muster and as such, must befriend foreign airlines, but not making them enemies.

“To fully become a big player, it must enter into inter-airline relationships. If it has inter- airline relationship with British Airways or Virgin Atlantic, for instance, what happened to it recently in New York would not have happened.Arik Air would have just transferred those passengers to other partner airlines instead of paying hotel bills for days as well as compensation to some.

“Any businessman that is always patronising Aso Rock is doing so to take what does not belong to such person; or to better put it, such a person is a criminal.”

According to Turkur, the way forward for the aviation sector is not farfetched.

He said, “The only sector that is left is the aviation sector. The banking sector is finished because the banks are not lending.

With the way the aviation sector is being handled presently, it appears that there is a deliberate attempt to destroy the sector.

“The government must seat down and properly articulate and make necessary changes, if Nigeria is to become the aviation hub of the sub-region; because we need to encourage more international airlines to come, instead of fighting a battle we cannot win.

Come to think of it, do we really have good facilities? No good airport. Nothing!

“The much touted on-going renovation of airports across the country is nothing but a fluke. The quality of materials being used is nothing to write home about.

“Imagine passengers struggling for space with construction workers in our airports. No safety procedures or protection for the travelling public.

“I am using this opportunity to call on the honourable minister to visit all the airports in which renovations are currently on-going to see the rubbish the contractors are doing.

“Again, I have no doubt in my mind that the minister is being misled. In fact, this is the time for the government to start building new airports. If you land at the Kaduna Airport, you will think you are in a war zone, with air force planes scattered everywhere and the VIP lounge there taken over by the air force and no civilian uses there.”

He admonishes that those managing Nigerian airports must reduce their charges and at best stop collecting charges now, pending when the airports are in good condition. Currently, they provide nothing to the Nigerian travelling public.

Travellers must ensure that government agencies in the aviation sector are forced to do what they are established to do.At a time, even recently in this country, marketers were selling ordinary kerosene as aviation fuel and nothing happened to those accused.

He maintains: “It was not me making the allegation, but one of the oil marketers that petitioned and named those committing this terrible crime. Whether the petitioner was telling the truth or not, the government and its agencies swept the matter under the carpet.

“One of the reasons why aircraft make air return sometimes is as a result of adulterated aviation fuel, incident that is commonly caused by bird strikes that have been a major source of losses to operators here in Nigeria.

“Scaring the birds away is the duty of a government agency, for which airline operators are charged. And yet when it happens, the airline will have to pay duty to send it abroad for repairs; or ordering a spare part for that purpose.”

Finally, the travelling public must demand for their rights. “If your flight is delayed, the airline must feed you; if the flight is cancelled out-rightly, they must provide you with hotel accommodation and one return ticket free, especially if the reasons for the cancellation are not natural disaster and/or weather-related,” he stated.

“Failure to do the aforementioned, there are consumer protection desks at all our airports that passengers can take their cases to.As a precaution, always read the terms and conditions of every airline ticket you buy. If it says no refund after purchase, do not use such airline in future.

“NCAA must be forced by passengers to monitor airline operators. Imagine you being served a piece of cake with a serviette paper in an airline that you pay thousands of naira to fly.”

6 June 2012

Wife of Cross River State Governor with her Award as Tourism Man Of the Year Award with her from left is Mr Nkereuwen Onong, Mr Ikechi Uko, Calabar Carnival Queen 2011

Cross River Declares Boost In Tourism

C

ross River State, known for its leadership position in the tourism industry in Nigeria, landed yet another important mark as the Wife of the Cross River State Governor, Obioma Liyel-Imoke announced that hotel beds in the State had increased from 2,000 to 4,000.

Imoke, who was recently bestowed with the Tourism Man of the year 2011

by AKWAABA and Abuja Bantaba, at the prestigious Peregrino Hall, government house Calabar thanked the organizers for the honour done her, identifying the peace and hospitality of the People of Cross River – the Nation’s Paradise as the key factors for this remarkable growth. “This in itself has a direct impact on the livelihood of the people as one of the dividends of the industry.”

Carnival Calabar, an integral component of the State’s renowned 32 day festival, which has come to be known as Africa’s biggest street Party, has given Nigeria a place on the tourism map of the world as the number of tourists visiting during the time goes up each year.

The Wife of the Governor also talked about another wonder of the State – the Obudu Mountain Resort. “The recent elevation of the Obudu Mountain Resort to the first position in the contest for the seven wonders of Nigeria and entering it into the Guinness book of records as having the longest cable car ride in Africa are further contributions the State has made and still making in tourism development in Nigeria.”

She enumerated the developing infrastructures in the State which will further project the tourism potentials of the State to include; the Calabar International Convention Centre with a five star hotel

attached to it opening in 2013, a fourscreen cinema which will be opened next month at the Marina Resort amongst others. Imoke maintained that tourism in Cross River State is key to the economic growth of not only the State but its people in general.

Ikechi Uko of AKWAABA and Abuja Bantaba who also spoke at the event said Imoke was chosen for this year’s award because of the tremendous success of the 2011 Carnival Calabar which was adjudged the best on the African Continent The Tourism Man of the year Award celebrates individuals who have contributed notably to the development of tourism in their States.

ers to run and manage an efficient and effective tourism industry.

Just like most practitioners have noted and advised, a critical review of the sector and the NTDC 1992 Act does not empower it to do training by its statute.

On what is the position of the tourism private sector, which he represents, on the proposed merger, Alabi says it is an emphatic no.

To go ahead with the proposal, according to him, is like the popular Tiv dance of one step forward and two steps backward.

He also noted that the Tourism Master Plan Implementation Committee of which the tourism federation is a member provides for a training college or uni-

There is no doubt that the institute have been facing a lot of challenges, but the management have been able to weather the storm over time.

NIHOTOUR established in 1987, through a tripartite agreement between the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], International Labour Organisation [ILO] and the Federal Government saw the commencement of training activities in 1988.

In the beginning though, where there was critical man-power shortage, the institute was made a department and the training wing of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation[NTDC] before it gained autonomy in 1998.

Thereafter, the mandate of the institute has been widened to provide technical skills

Continued from Page 1

mandate has more urgent attention than that of the NTDC. Across the country, the so called private institutions are run by people who are not even qualified to do so themselves and as a leading travel and tourism journalist in Nigeria, I can confirm that almost all the establishments do not recognise those qualifications.

As aptly put by the President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria [FTAN], Chief Samuel Alabi who also doubles as Hospitality Personnel Services Employees Associations [HOPSEA] president, said government may look at cost to say, some parastatals or agencies be merged, the government also has a social responsibility to create jobs and opportunity for its citizenry, He said that for whatever reason and wisdom, the rumoured merger is called for and noted that for the necessity of the travel and tourism industry, he would say no to such move because there is no way NIHOTOUR can be merged with NTDC. Again, there is nowhere in the world that a tourism agency is made a commission, much more a country that has no structure, foundation, lack human capital among oth-

High Chief Edem Duke, Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation

versity and that FTAN’s position was, since there is in existence for well over 20 years a training institute, referring to NIHOTOUR, it should be upgraded to that college or the university that was to be created and that the position of the federation remains so.

Alabi wondered, why a country where over 85 per cent of the travel and tourism workforce are untrained to have its only institution merged with another agency.

and vocational manpower need for the hotel, catering and tourism workforce in Nigeria.

Most critically, the institute has also trained and served as one of few centres for International Air Transport Associations [IATA] examination in Nigeria and has prepared thousands of Nigerians that now Continued on Page 7

June 2012 7

Zimbabwe: UN Insists Mugabe Tourism Honour Not An Official Title

BY ALEX BEL

T

he United Nations [UN] tourism body has insisted that Robert Mugabe has not been an awarded an official title, after he and his Zambian counterpart were asked to be tourism ambassadors.

Local and international media have both reported on the shocked and indignant reaction to the news that Mugabe and Zambia’s Michael Sata had been selected as tourism leaders.

This follows news that the two countries will jointly host the UN World Tourism Office [UNWTO] General Assembly next year.

The UN has since been strongly criticised with some reports stating the decision to choose Mugabe as a ‘tourism leader’ was hypocritical, because of the UN’s commitment to human rights. Other reports said the decision brings the UN’s credibility into question, because Mugabe is a known human rights abuser.

Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary General

But the UN grouping has insisted that no official honour or ambassadorial role has been bestowed on Mugabe or Sata. The UN says it is simply trying to encourage the African nations to promote tourism as a valuable source of revenue.

Sandra Carvao, UNWTO’s co-ordinator of communications, said: “UNWTO has presented both presidents with an open letter which calls for them to support tourism as a means to foster sustainable development in their countries to the benefit of their people and consequently ask them to support the sector in this respect.”

She added: “UNWTO does not have an ambassador’s programme and the receiving of the UNWTO open letter implies no legal commitment or title attribution to the country or the head of state or government in question.”

The move however is still being criticised as a questionable embrace of Mugabe as a tourism envoy, despite the ageing dictator remaining under targeted international sanctions.

Tanzania Intensifies Security In Spice Island Of Zanzibar And Other Tourist Spots

By Apolinari Tairo in Tanzania

R

eacting to recent incidents in which four tourists were mugged in the Tanzanian capital city of Dar es Salaam and the political stalemate in the Indian Ocean Tourist Island of Zanzibar,Tanzania has beefed up security in key tourist spots.

Two separate incidents were observed in Tanzania recently in which four tourists were mugged of several items when walking on different streets in Tanzania’s capital city, while in Zanzibar, a group of vagabond youths torched down churches and threatened to burn beer groceries and bars where tourists take their time to drink.

In reaction to these incidents, Tanzania government, through the Tourism Ministry had intensified security in key tourist spots including hotels in both the mainland and the tourist island of Zanzibar.

Tanzania’s Deputy Tourism Minister Mr. Lazaro Nyalandu said the two incidents had shocked the government as were his ministry and other tourist stakeholders, taking into account that Tanzania had remained a peaceful tourist destination for years, without such ugly incidents targeting tourists.

“We are sorry that such ugly incidents happened here, as we cherish our peaceful environment to the tourists visiting Tanzania, but we assure visitors in Dar es Salaam of safe passage and [a] very comfortable stay,” he told the media.

“The government of Tanzania reiterates its commitment in assuring tourists visiting Tanzania of their security, while legal measures have been taken to those found taking part in causing recent chaos in Zanzibar,” Mr. Nyalandu said.

He admitted that four tourists were robbed while walking along streets in the capital of Dar es Salaam.Tanzania hotel stakeholders wrote a letter to the government of Tanzania asking for security support near key tourist hotels.

It was reported that tourists whose nationalities were not immediately known were mugged while strolling on roads near Southern Sun Hotel in Dar es Salaam’s central business district, while others were robbed outside Sea Cliff Hotel, about seven kilometres from the city centre.

Mr. Nyalandu said police patrols have been introduced in all areas where tourists stroll, as are the Indian Ocean beaches, adding that Tanzania remains a safe destination to pay a visit.

In Zanzibar, tourists have been reported safe despite recent political unrest , during which several Christian churches were torched down by an anti-union of Tanzania radicals.

There have been a few demonstrations resulting in violence and destruction in and around Stone Town and Amani Stadium on the island of Zanzibar.

Tires have been burned in the streets, and there has been some violence and destruction of property, including two churches.Violence has not been targeted towards tourists.

British Foreign and Commonwealth Office [FCO] issued an advisory statement, cautioning British tourists visiting Zanzibar to be cautious in the places hit by violence, telling them to keep away. About 70,000 Britons visit Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar every year, making UK the leading source of tourists visiting this African destination each year.

Hundreds of supporters of a separatist Islamist group set fire to two churches and clashed with police during protests in Zanzibar last weekend against the arrest of senior members of the Awakening movement, police said.

Police accused the Awakening group of ordering its supporters on to the streets to protest the union of Tanzania made up in 1964 and which made Zanzibar part of Tanzania.

Sources from Zanzibar’s tourist beaches of Nungwi, Kizimkazi, and the historical site of Stone Town said that tourists and other foreign visitors to the semi-autonomous island were not targeted.

Tourism is currently the leading source of revenue to Zanzibar’s economy, injecting 27 percent to the isle’s gross domestic product [GDP], while generating 72 percent of the isle’s foreign currency, while providing key jobs in its sprawling hotels and other tourist establishments there.

Pristine sand beaches, deep water diving, unique and rich multi-racial cultures, and historical sites, all make Zanzibar the leading tourist hot-spot in the East African Indian Ocean zone. About 200,000 tourists visited the island last year.

Continued from Page 6

work mostly with travel agencies, tour companies and even airlines.

Without being myopic, NIHOTOUR since it became a fully fledged parastatal has performed fairly well than the NTDC that is to be elevated to a commission and which must not be.

In Kenya, Utalii College, National Tourism Institute of Tanzania based in Arusha and Rwanda Tourism University College to mention but few are some of such public colleges and institutions across Africa that run side by side with their national tourism board or authority; and one wonder why Nigeria with over 150 million people and 40,000 hotels and hospitality establishments

The island has seen a remarkable growth in tourism, with optimism to attract more holidaymakers there. Zanzibar is famous for its beaches, deep-sea fishing, scuba diving, and dolphin watching, targeting to attract highclass tourists to compete with other Indian Ocean island destinations, such as Seychelles, Mauritius, La Reunion, and Maldives.

Lazaro Nyalandu, Tanzanian Deputy Tourism Minister

alone should not have a professional college or university.

In the last 12-years, the NTDC has not added any value to Nigeria’s tourism development, marketing and promotion efforts, rather, the leadership have always be a burden on the sector generally.

From one director general to the other, it has been a house of division and deception. As a marketing and promotion agency for the tourism ministry, the NTDC has done nothing to justify its existence; this has nothing to do with the quality of manpower available in the corporation, but lack of credible and qualified leadership at the top.

I have been to all the travel fairs around

the world where Nigeria’s delegation were led by the NTDC leadership; where other African countries that we should compete with are selling and promoting their countries with good and colourful brochure, while Nigeria’s officials serve food, as if the tourist can be wooed with mere bowl of amala or pounded yam.

Credit to Chief Samuel Alabi, FTAN president, he noted what some of us had noticed long ago that, Nigeria’s stand at every international event are usually filled with journalists and civil servants, whilst in some cases what you have on display are pictures of hotels.

These journalists who are friends of the NTDC return and begin to feed Nigerians with candies of lies. One of such incident was that Nigeria came top as best exhibitor at the 2011 ITB-Berlin International travel fair in Germany, where in actual fact it came 13th out the 15 African countries that participated at that fair.

As for NIHOTOUR, the training services it renders cut across training the trainers; Basic Certificate and Professional Management Courses; Mobile training workshops and consultancy services in Hotel, Catering, Travel and Tourism specialised operations.

Since its inception, the institute has produced well over 5,000 skilled and craft trainees servicing the various sub-sectors of the Nigerian travel, tourism and hospitality industry.

For those who conceptualised the institute idea, it is meant to provide improved and quality service in the hospitality and tourism industry by introducing professional, technical and specialised training as well as post-graduate course in the travel and tourism and hospitality fields, to provide short and long term managerial and supervisory training for the development of specific skills as well as to enhance the quality and efficiency of senior functionaries in the hospitality and tourism industry and to co-operate with relevant bodies to organize and facilitate staff development programmes for teachers and supervisors in polytechnics and the tourism industry.

Others are, to co-operate with relevant bodies in developing and updating national training curriculum for all levels of personnel in the industry, to provide a forum at which representatives of both public and organized private tourism sectors and tourism institutions could exchange ideas and information on development in the industry, keep and maintain a register of travel and tourism training institutions, their training programmes, subjects, locations standards, durations and type and to develop a learning resource centre for the production of audio visual aids, collection and dissemination of learning materials as well as to source funds and technical assistance for the promotion of its objectives.

Presently, NIHOTOUR offers courses in Post Graduate Diploma in Tourism and Recreation; Post Graduate Diploma in Hospitality Management; Diploma in Tourism & Recreation; Diploma in Hospitality Management and Diploma in Transport & Travel Management; Other courses offered are Professional Diploma Tourism & Hospitality in Data Processing and Information Technology; Diploma in Travel and Tourism Management (IATA/UFTAA Foundation); and Certificate in Tourism & Hospitality Data Processing and Information Technology.

Apart from the aforementioned activities and responsibility, the institute have a good relationship with FTAN and its 12 registered associations as full members; namely; Nigerian Association of Tour operators [NATOP], National Association of Nigeria Travel Agents [NANTA], Association of Nigerian Tourism Journalists and Writers of Tourism [ANJET], Nigeria Hotel Association [NHA],Association of Tourism practitioners of Nigeria [ATPN] and Nigerian Hotel and Catering Institute [NHCI].

Others are, Africa Travel Association [ATA], Nigerian Youth Tourism Organisation [NYTO], Hospitality Personnel Services Employees Associations [HOPSEA], Hotel Owners Forum of Abuja [HOFA],Travel and Tourism Lawyers Association [TATLAN] and Hospitality and Tourism Management Association of Nigeria [HATMAN].

8 June 2012 not want to travel with a luxury bus because of the road condition in some parts of the country, which turns a simple trip to a tiring experience, and also the needs of customers who want to enjoy coach comforts but are rather too skeptical about travelling in a small bus because of its safety implications.

Mr. Jude Nneji, Deputy Managing Director, ABC Transport Plc, the Smart Coach will add value to “customers of ABC Transport Plc, particularly those who have kept faith with the company over the years.

Its distinctive styling, aesthetic design and enhanced ergonomics will provide the same quality of ride and passenger comfort that is the hallmark of coach.” The Smart Coach will be operating in Nigeria for the first time and will be deployed on the Lagos-Port Harcourt and Abuja-Port Harcourt routes for now.Ten (10) units of the Smart Coach have been procured by ABC Transport Plc. ABC Transport Plc had earlier sent four key maintenance staff for automotive training in Turkey, in readiness for the Smart Coach operation in Nigeria. The training was organised by Otokar Otomotive, a major automotive manufacturer in Europe, and was aimed at equipping ABC Transport engineers with firsthand knowledge and

special competence in the maintenance and repairs of the Smart Coach.

The ABC Smart Coach is medium size, with roomy interior and lush upholstery. It is very ideal for intercity travels and provides an extremely high level of comfort for passengers. In fact, it has been meticulously designed to give every passenger that allimportant feel-good factor. It has on-board entertainment facilities, genuine leather passenger seats with adjustable foot rests, fold-down armrests, and two-point seat belts. The air-conditioning system and air channels from the heat exchanges guarantee a comfortable interior climate. It also has a spacious luggage compartment which can be loaded and unloaded easily, and overhead luggage racks.

Meanwhile, ABC Transport Plc has established an Urban Mass Transit Unit headed by Kazim Ajibola Kasali, a tested public transportation professional. This is aimed at offering subsidized fare for public commuters. ABC Transport Plc, the only publicly-quoted road transport company in Nigeria, is a major haulage transporter with Lafarge-WAPCO, Nestle, Beta Glass, PZ and United Cement Company. ABC Transport Plc also runs City Transit Inn, a budget hotel accommodation in Abuja, tours and petty cash service.

ABC Transport Plc Introduces Smar t Coach In Nigeria

By Tom Uduak

A

BC Transport Plc has introduced a new coach operation known as Smart Coach, in order to meet the increasing demands for a medium size bus by its customers. The Smart Coach is a Navigo-model 27-seater luxury coach designed to offer passengers an alternative between a coach and a mini bus. Fatality rate of passengers in mini

buses operating long hauls is usually very high, so as a matter of safety policy, the management of ABC Transport Plc has never favoured the use of mini buses for long distance travels.

The ABC Smart Coach combines the advantages of coach and mini bus; coach features and the sleekness of a small bus, which imbues it with easy maneuverability on difficult roads.Thus, ABC Smart Coach will meet the needs of customers who do

Aero Adopts New Crew Look

A

ero, Nigeria's leading airline, has adopted a fresh look for its cabin crew, in line with its renaissance and in demonstration of innovativeness as one of its core values.

The design introduces a new colour scheme with a variety for both male and female crew in line with the airline’s corporate brand colours of navy blue, orange and white.

The new wears were launched May 1 to mark the airline’s 53rd anniversary.

Commenting on this milestone, the Managing director, Captain Akinlawon George said: "This is one of several innovations targeted at re-positioning aero as the airline of choice. We know we are the market leader, and we intend to look the part. The design scheme introduces an assortment, which is also in line with the variety and uniqueness of our product offering. This is the theme of this effort: variety and uniqueness."

Captain George also remarked that the airline was witnessing a rebirth, with strong performances over the past two months in on-time-performance: "On time performance has become a shared value in our company, and is guarded by all of us. Over the last couple of months our on-time departure has improved to 87%, a remarkable achievement we intend to improve upon within the next few months.”

June 2012 9

Chief Samuel Alabi, President, Federation Of Tourism Associations Of Nigeria [FTAN].

Human Capital Devt: Biggest Challenge of Nigeria’s Travel And Tourism Sector – FTAN President

C

hief Samuel Alabi is national president of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria [FTAN], umbrella body for tourism private sector in Nigeria; and also doubles as national president of Hospitality Personnel Services Employees Associations [HOPSEA]. The slow pace of development and events in the travel and tourism industry in the country appears to be giving the man sleepless nights, as he bares it all in this interview with Lucky Onoriode George. Excerpts:

L-R: Speaker of Borough of Hackey, Clir Susan Fajana-Thomas, the Deputy Lieutenant of Hackney and representative of the Queen, Col Roderick Morriss and Mr. Zenon Adamek, Peacock College Principal

Executive Chairman of Peacock Travel, Chief Segun Phillips and some dignitaries

Second Left from: Speaker of the Borough of Hackey, Clir Susan Fajana-Thomas and Chief Segun P

The Group Executive Chairman, Chief Segun Phillips

Second from left Chief Segun Phillips and some of his staff

Chief Segun Phillips and more dignitaries

Speaker of the Borough of Hackey, Clir Susan Fajana-Thomas signing the register, while Chief Segu

Travel Manager, Keith Lloyd ushering in the Chief Executivve Chairman, Chief Segun Phillips

Speaker of the Borough of Hackey, Clir Susan Fajana-Thomas in a handshake with Mr. Zenon Adamek, Peacock College Principal

Phillips and other guests

Revd. Father ALbert Ofere, the Coordinating Chaplain for Nigerian Roman Catholic Church in the UK performing the official dedication/blessing of the offices with Group Executive Chairman Chief S.P. Phillips

Some Peacock staff and two female dignitaries

un Phillips and others look on

Revd. Father ALbert Ofere, the Coordinating Chaplain for Nigerian Roman Catholic Church in the UK performing the official dedication/blessing of the offices with Group Executive Chairman Chief Segun Phillips

All smiles

Col Roderick Morriss, Deputy Lieutenant of Hackney and representative of the Queen, Signing the

company register whille others look on.

June 2012 12

T

he Steve Oronsaye Committee on Rationalisation of Government Ministries and Agencies is said to have proposed that the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism [NIHOTOUR] be merged with the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation [NTDC].What is you take on this?

Well, there are two sides to every coin. In terms of cost saving measures, one would jump into the conclusion that the two institutions can be merged.

Again, if looked at from the angle of what is good for the travel and tourism industry in Nigeria, every right thinking person that has invested and is expecting returns on his investment will oppose such merger.

One, a critical review of the 1992 NTDC Act did not empower it to engage in man power development or training. By law, you cannot put something on nothing.An agency is a creation of statute and can only perform what it has been set out to do. It is common knowledge that it is only a woman that can become pregnant; there is no way a man can have that, even if the entire family members agree to relieve the woman of the pains or cost by saying let’s transfer the burden to the man.

Natural law of God says it is the female that can do that, same goes for NIHOTOUR and NTDC. The role of the NTDC is well articulated in its 1992 Act; and its functions are to market, promote, register and regulate operators to ensure compliance. Anything outside that would be an oversimplification of very technical issues.

What is the position of FTAN? The position of the tourism federation is that Nigeria should not move 10 yards forward and 20 yards backward. If you go back to the Tourism Master Plan that was launched in 2006 by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo, part of the recommendation of the master plan was to create a national tourism college or university, which FTAN as part of the tourism implementation committee, suggested. It was adopted that rather than setting up a new college or university for that purpose, NIHOTOUR should be upgraded to the status of a university or college.

That was agreed, and it is part of the implementation strategy that was put in place. Now for NIHOTOUR to merger or be scrapped, are we now saying that the tourism master plan, which the Federal Government of Nigeria and the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] developed is moribund?

From the perspective of the analysis that I have given, FTAN is of the view that the two agencies should remain,for the interest of tourism development in Nigeria.

We must equally not forget that the government owe society some social responsibility, such as job creation.What is going to happen to the staff of the agencies that the government is merging? I can assure you that at the end of the exercise, Nigeria would lose more

than what would be saved eventually.

It is no longer news that the Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, High Chief Edem Duke, has officially declared that the federal government has approved the much awaited Tourism Development Funds. What is

The minister also clarified that he never said that 70 per cent of the funds would be spent on the endowment of the arts as being rumoured in some quarters, but that, he was only responding to a question, citing that as an example. He posited further that when the funds is ready, there would

the status?

I can say for the record that FTAN executives met with the minister sometime in March this year; and one of the issues we raised was whether the Tourism Fund has been approved as we read

be a proper board and the disbursement would be based on the immediate needs of the industry; and what is available would be so used for that particular area.

At that meeting, we also reminded

We have chosen to take a position of wait and see, because the matter is pending before the Supreme Court; and we strongly believe that the outcome from the highest court of the land will determine the road we will

journey later.

in the media, which he clarified.And we also pressed forward on how the funds should be disbursed.

However, from the beginning of our meeting, he expressed his dissatisfaction over interpretation being given to statements he made concerning the funds on a Nigerian Television Authority [NTA] programme,Tuesday Night Live, in which you also appeared.

He made it clear to us that the tourism development funds is going to be raised from the private sector by way of voluntary donations, and not by way of levy on industry practitioners. He was also advised to seek foreign donors.

the minister that the entertainment industry was given $200 million dollars; the garment industry too received help; banks and manufacturing industries received bail-out funds; and most recently, the pharmaceutical industry was also being helped out.

Our concern is, if the government is saying that it wants to move the economy away from dependency on the oil and gas sector, and tourism is not being considered as a sector to which government attention should turn, then it only shows we are still not ready for diversification of the economy.

What would you say the sector has achieved in the last one year?

The problem we have in the tourism industry is that we have many talkers.

We have not been fortunate to see any plan or action that has seen the light of the day.

In the last 12-months, since I began my second tenure as the president of FTAN, however, we have been involved in a lot of technical works with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation and some representatives of other ministries on how to implement the Tourism Master Plan, which we believe, if fully implemented, will grow the tourism industry in Nigeria.

Unfortunately, the report was submitted since last December and funds were not made available. As a matter of facts, the tourism master plan is still at its infancy stage. The other issue is the Tourism Development Funds of we believed would trigger the development of the sector in Nigeria.

Regrettably, what was approved was not what we asked for.As such, we cannot rest, but continue to press until the federal government sees reason and allocate funds to the tourism sector as done for other industries.

The other issue is the one surrounding the proposed merger of some government parastatals, which should not even happen in the tourism sector. Even talking of FTAN, a lot of people don’t even know what the role of FTAN is in the tourism industry.

Some see us as a union or industrial body, which is not what we are.We are to lobby government and create enabling environment for our members by providing assistance to all associations under the umbrella of FTAN. Why is it that the ministry and tourism agencies, especially the NTDC, do not work as a team?

To my understanding, the ministry is the policy formulator, while the agencies do the implementation. In the case of tourism, the NTDC is saddled with such responsibility of implementing government tourism policies in the country. In all my interactions with the ministry, I have seen the representatives of the NTDC at such meetings and gathering.

As national president of the Hospitality Personnel Services Employees Associations [HOPSEA], where are we at the moment regarding hotel registration, grading and classification in Nigeria?

Let me distinguish between registration and grading and classification.

I can tell you that all hotels in Nigeria are registered, because it is just the process of picking up form, filling and returning it with your registration form. But when you talk about grading, it is a complex and technical issue, and it’s about the quality of performance and services of the individual’s facilities, with certain degree of services that determine their status.

At present in the country, there are divergent views as per whether the Continued on Page 13

June 2012 13

Chief Samuel Alabi

NTDC, a federal agency, should be the one responsible for that.The second is that the state should be responsible for the registering and grading of hotels; while the third one says the private sector should be involved, because there is a trend elsewhere around the world that a combination of the government and the private sector do decide what the standards should be, and what the benchmarks should be.

Today in Lagos State, we are at crossroads as we have a dual registration exercise. We have the NTDC and the Lagos State Government doing the same thing. Despite the huge revenue that government at all levels generate from the travel and tourism industry, budget allocation to the sector is by far lower than any sector of the economy.

What is the position of FTAN and HOPSEA? Regrettably, there is nothing that we can do, except to comply with these unbelievable events unfolding in Lagos State. However, the intention of this registration and grading itself, as it has turned out to be, is purely for revenue

generation.

What we can deduce is that the exercise is purely for revenue generation, because I have not heard of government officials from either the NTDC or Lagos State paying a surprise or unannounced visit to any hotel or any accommodation provider demanding to see or check any of their rooms or kitchen to see if they are complying with the minimum regulatory standards.

We have chosen to take a position of wait and see, because the matter is pending before the Supreme Court; and we strongly believe that the outcome from the highest court of the land will determine the road we will journey later.

Who should handle the registration exercise?

I am not going to dwell on the registration, because as a lawyer, I understand that the moment a case is pending before a competent court, we do not want to say things that would appear to be prejudging the outcome of the case; and that is why FTAN and HOPESEA have decided to wait and see.

However from the professional aspect of what we do as practitioners, I am also of the opinion that there should not be a single way of solving the issues; and that is why I guess the NTDC 1992 Act talks about the federal, state and local government collaborating in the registration programme.

I have no doubt that there is not hotel operating anywhere in Nigeria that local government officials do not know, even without a sigh post. My submission is that the federal, state, local and the private sector must be involved, if the exercise is to be meaningful and successful.

What happens should the Supreme Court rule that one is not supposed to register, much more collect money? What happens to the revenue already paid by practitioners?

There is nothing that can be done.

What has gone has gone. There is no way that those who have paid will go back to either NTDC or the Lagos State Government to say what I paid to you as revenue or tax was done in

error and therefore demand refund.

What is FTAN doing to bring on board some subsectors of the tourism industry that are not active in the federation’s activities, especially the Nigeria Association of Tour Operators [NATOP]?

One of the beauties of democracy is that associations are purely voluntary, and, therefore, FTAN cannot be different. Again, the various associations have their different interests. For instance, when the issue of commission payable to travel agents by airlines became a major, issue, NANTA fought it on their own. As for the tour operators, I still hope and believe they will discover their place in the tourism industry and will come forward.

But let me say this: here in Nigeria, people want power and position; and because certain people failed in their bid to lead FTAN, they decided to stay away.Without mincing words, FTAN is a victim of position struggle.

In spite of all that, FTAN remains the only private sector umbrella body that’s recognised by government, which can speak on behalf of the sector. So does the Tourism Master Plan.

The current minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation was my predecessor as FTAN president.

The one before him is also today the director general of the NIHOTOUR, and I can tell you that their selection to serve in those capacities by government were not by mistake.

From their selection to the aforementioned positions, it ought to be clear to anyone or even practitioners and associations that have been there for years, who the father of the associations is.

Coming to the second part of your question, the issues of tour operators: the tour business is one of the most difficult tourism aspects in Nigeria, because a simple one hour journey from Lagos to Ibadan that should normally be not more than an hour can last for five or six hours. If you can spend that number of hours in the urban areas, what happens when you travel to the hinterlands?

In a country where there is general dearth of infrastructure, security challenges, among others, how do guarantee the safety of local tourists and foreigners alike in a situation like we have today?

Unfortunately, most Nigerians don’t consume our tourism products.Typical Nigerian elites that can conveniently pay to travel in Nigeria will prefer to move their family to places like Cotonou and Accra rather than taking them to Obudu or even TINAPA. It is unfortunate. The children of the elite know more of European and American cities than the next town to where they reside in Nigeria.

With such scenario, how do we justify the money and time we spend abroad wooing foreign tourists to come to Nigeria, where we have resoundingly rejected what we have? This is the major challenge that the tour operators Continued on Page 14

14 June 2012 Continued from Page 13

in Nigeria face. And until a Yoruba man decides to move from Lagos or Osun to visit Benue or any other part of the country, there won’t be a successful tour operation business in the country, because what we have now is mere cosmetic arrangement .

What you have just said raises a lot more questions. If I may ask, what does Nigeria even sell or promote abroad when we go for ITB-Berlin International Travel Fair,World Travel Market [WTM in London and Arabian Travel Market [ATM] in Dubai?

It is true that I have participated at the WTM a couple of times and I can tell you that the quality of the Nigerian stands at each of those occasions portrays nothing but the fledgling level of tourism development in Nigeria. The tourism industry in Nigeria is synonymous with hotels. The other units are not just there. If you remove the Hajj operations from travel agencies in Nigeria, that angle would also be dead.

Nowadays, most people book their tickets online and pay online. And several other operations of the travel industry that have gone online have also eaten deep into the travel agencies’ revenue.

From my experiences at WTM when you go to the Nigerian stand, what you see are faces unlike those of the other countries from Africa like South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Namibia or Egypt, just to name few that are there to do business.

To promote their products, you can see their travel agents and tour operators, because they have products to sell, not just hotels.

Nobody travels from his home to see hotel or one building, because hotels in the tourism industry are merely auxiliary products. But as for the Nigerian stand, you don’t see travel agents or tour operators doing business. On the contrary, the stand would be full of travel journalists and civil servants who have no products to sell.

It was as a result of efforts to boost Nigeria’s tourism product base that the Abuja and Calabar Carnivals were initiated to drive tourism traffic to Nigeria. What more can be done?

Please don’t talk about Abuja Carnival, it’s just a jamboree. The Abuja Carnival is just a programme where money appropriated in the budgetary allocation to the sector has to be spent at all cost. We have been taking stock since it started; and we’ve come to the conclusion that the carnival has not impacted on hotels, car hire service operators, or even fast food businesses.

What are you talking about?

The carnival is a business that is run by government, managed by civil servants for reasons best known to them.

So, don’t let us talk about the Abuja Carnival; and I made this abundantly clear to the minister when we in FTAN met with him and told him of our reservations. I call it Abuja jamboree where money is available and someone must spend it.

What is FTAN’s position on the

Abuja Carnival?

There are no two ways about it.The private sector must be involved and we are talking of FTAN that represents the industry. We must be involved at the committee levels. For instance, through FTAN, the car hire and bus companies will be involved in the transportation committee, the accommodation committee will be involved, as well as hotel association so that things can be done properly, because we will also contribute.

I cannot imagine that in this modern era, the organiser of the carnival still put participants in primary schools and open fields. It is unacceptable and unimaginable.

If the government is really serious about developing tourism in the country, it must also come up with a cluster idea whereby the few cultural programmes and products that we take pride in are held within an auspicious period of time, so that the tourists can get value for the money.

As at today, very few people can travel just to see a one day event like from afar. If festivals like Osun Osogbo, Arugungun, Calabar festival are arranged to hold maybe within one week interval, it would be better for the tourism industry, for which the government must be bold enough to declare a kind of a holiday for this purpose.

What is the quality of services in the travel and tourism industry in Nigeria?

I think Nigerians should blame

themselves, including myself, because we shy away from fighting a legitimate cause. If I have a right somewhere, why won’t I pursue it? I can tell you that I have a case in court with one airline and I will fight it to a logical conclusion. Again, most Nigerians are always in haste, and even when you try to seek redress, a lot of people will even discourage you.

I can understand the difficult environment in which most of the airlines operate; and when businesses are done in such circumstance, shabby treatment and poor services will always be the outcome. And I can tell you that they are getting away with it because of the market.

From my experience, one airline delayed us for several hours and when a few of us protested, those of us they perceived as rebels were offered 50 per cent discount right there at the airport for our next flight. If Nigerians continue to do this, the airlines will buckle up.

What is FTAN planning for the next one year?

Like I told you earlier on, it is my vision; and I hope that we work with government to create an enabling environment for our members to grow their businesses. And the first we have to pursue now is the Tourism Development Fund, because there is nothing near it.

We see the funds as one of the few opportunities for our members to raise capital for new businesses as well as to re-energise their existing operations and to also refinance the loans that they took whose interest rate is now becoming very alarming.

Therefore, we now feel that we are not been treated fairly by the federal government.

Another area that I hope to work on is the professionalization of the tourism industry because the sector seems to be for all comers at the moment; and I strongly feel that if the sector is to be standardised, the issue of professionalization must be tackled now.

Lastly, I seriously want to work on all the seven zonal offices so that we can be more national in the true sense.

And before the end of the year, we are planning a training programme for airport car hire service operators to educate them on the critical role they play in the industry. They can market and de-market any nation with their altitude and behaviour.

Message to Nigerians and the situation of power supply?

My message is simple, direct and short. Nigerians must consume our local tourism products or else the sector will die a natural death. And as for issue of general concern like power supply, I have decided not to belabour it anymore.

16 June 2012

Staff and Students of Dowen College and facilitators from Madiba’s House

Staff of Madiba’s House with Staff of Holy Child College

Photograph of students of Holy Child College after MLC

Nigerian Students Urged To Emulate Mandela’s Leadership Qualities

By Kirk Leigh

T

wo hundred and fifty students of Nigerian secondary schools have been coached on how to become like the iconic Nelson Mandela and create visions that could make Nigeria a leading country in future.

This was done last week at a coaching and mentoring session called the Madiba Leadership Circuit [MLC] by Madiba’s House, an establishment set up to promote the ideals and leadership philosophy of Nelson Mandela.

Fifty students each were selected from Lekki British International Schools, Holy Child’s College, ADRAO International Schools, Dowen College and Meadow Hall College in what the CEO of Madiba’s House, Kirk Leigh called a Pilot Programme to test run the MLC that is billed to take place from July 18th, Nelson Mandela’s Birthday.

“This is a small step in our plans to take the leadership ideals of the great Nelson Mandela to the world. It is our belief that once people can imbibe the principles that set the Madiba apart, we would emerge as a great country of leaders”, he says.

He observes that the formative years are the best times to impart knowledge and wisdom that would guide people in their adult lives. He also expressed con-

fidence that a few decades down the line the country would start seeing the effect of the programme.

The biggest take-out of the mentoring sessions, Kirk notes, is the seemingly endless outpour of ideas by the youngsters on how to make the country a better place.

He expressed optimism that given the chance to lead, products of the MLC would take Nigeria to the next level.

The next stop for the MLC is Nelson Mandela’s Birthday when the company plans to release its first publication, SEEING TOMORROW like Nelson Mandela.

Another set of 250 students would be trained on that occasion within a five day period.

The MLC, according to the organisers, proposes to teach, inspire and mentor the next generation of leaders via, lectures, seminars, workshops and mentorship sessions among other means in the principles that produced Dr. Nelson Mandela as the institution of leadership, a Mecca that all leaders must visit.

Organisers plan to take the Circuit all over the country and beyond.

Madiba’s House has developed eighteen principles; it christened the Madiba Leadership Principles. These principles are billed for release at the annual MLCs

Staff and students of Lekki British International Schools with Madiba’s House Team

Staff of Madiba’s House with Staff of ADRAO International Schools

June 2012 17 Seychelles Africa Routes meeting will provide an important opportunity for governments, tourism, and airline industry professionals.

The Airlines Association of Southern Africa will also heading for Seychelles to be part of Routes Africa 2012. This will bring a new dimension to the airline and aviation meeting as they remain focused on the development of airlines.

The support for Routes Africa 2012 has been welcomed by Minister Alain St.Ange and by Mr. Gerard Brown from the Routes organization.

L-R: Nanji Tyem, Public Relations Manager, Abuja Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Maureen Agbasi & Mr. Nnaemeka Agbasi, both of NAC Hospitality and Yvonne Bassey a Travel Journalist at the just concluded Bantaba Travel Exhibition in Abuja.

Ethiopian Airlines Set To Connect Toronto With Africa

By Our Correspondent

E

thiopian Airlines, Africa’s most profitable airline and eighth most profitable in the world is set to launch twice-weekly flights to connect eleven African cities to Toronto

in Canada through its hub of Addis Ababa.

According to report, key African cities like Bujumbura, Dar es Salaam, Doula, Harare, Johannesburg, Kigali, Kinshasa, Lusaka, Nairobi,Victoria in Seychelles, and Addis Ababa itself are to be connected and the flights to Toronto will be the only

regular non-stop to Africa.

Ethiopian Airlines will be deploying its brand new and ultra-modern B777-200LR aircraft, which offers 287 economy class seats and 34 seats in the luxurious Cloud Nine Business class.

The airline will begin with 2 flights a week, because of bilateral restrictions, but expects to immediately increase the number of flights as soon as it obtains permission, said Tewolde Gebre Mariam, the airline’s Chief Executive Officer.

“Now, Ethiopian is committed to start services to the exciting market of Toronto twice a week, introducing a new route between Africa and Canada,” Mr. Tewolde said.

The airline has long envisioned connecting Toronto with Addis Ababa and to the rest of the world, according to Tewolde. By adding Toronto to the growing list of destinations, Ethiopian services will reinforce the relationship between Ethiopia and Canada, while enhancing trade and investment, he noted.

Toronto will be the 67th international destination for Ethiopian and second in that part of the world. Travelers from places such as Boston, Calgary, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Montreal, and San Francisco will have convenient connections through Toronto via Air Canada, Ethiopia’s partner.

“It has been our vision to connect Toronto with our hub of Addis, and to the rest of the world,” Tewolde added.

Ethiopian Airlines is expected to be among key airlines to send its participants to the Routes Africa 2012 forum to discuss and share experience on challenges facing airline and air transport in Africa.

Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture Mr. Alain St.Ange has welcomed participants to the Routes Africa 2012 forum to meet in the mid-Indian Ocean island to discuss issues affecting air transport and solutions that would bring the African continent on the best roadmap in aviation industry.

Networking among African tourism ministers attending Routes Africa 2012 and sideline meetings between the ministers and airlines, and airport authorities, will be a golden opportunity for all. The

KTB: Kenya remains safe for tourists

T

he tourism sector now wants speedy investigations into Monday’s explosion at Assanands House on Moi Avenue in Nairobi, to avoid speculation that may scare away tourists.

Kenya Tourist Board Managing director Muriithi Ndegwa says visitors who are intending to visit the Kenya are simply anxious to know the exact cause of the blast and the security situation in the country.

Speaking during a tourism stakeholder forum in Nairobi, Ndegwa however believes that tourism may not necessarily be affected by the attack if the situation is handled well, adding that the sector has already gone through tougher situations in the past.

“We are getting a lot of calls from the source markets, and already as we speak, we have reassured the market that all is well.

Whenever there is a vacuum of information, people start speculating, and we do not want that. So as information unfolds we keep informing them what is exactly happening and the counter measures we are putting in place to ensure that Kenya is a safe destination, “said Ndegwa.

He has however criticized the Kenyan media for blowing things out of control on Monday and whenever there are similar incidences before full investigations, adding that this has caused unnecessary panic to the outsiders.

“If you look at other destinations like New York City, how many murders happen every single minute? When you look at Europe, there are so many crises especially when it comes to markets that I would not mention, where we have some terrorist attacks, “added Ndegwa.

On his part the Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers CEO Mike Macharia denied allegations that the hotel sector has been trying to downplay the situation, by portraying that all is well, yet the tourist arrivals continue to fall.

“Numbers don’t lie. KTB came up with the first quarter report a few weeks ago.We would not speculate without looking at the numbers and if we are getting cancellation, we will tell you they are indeed coming in. If we are not, we will give you factual information, “added Macharia.

Overall tourist arrivals in the first three months of the year declined by 0.5pc, to 312,258 compared to 313,691 in the same period last year due to insecurity.

18 June 2012 gerian businesses to set up shop in Hackney in particular and the UK in general?

Yes, there is good access to markets here in Hackney and the council is working to provide substantive help to Hackney businesses. London is a good location for business, international businesses like to locate to London - for its rich skills base, it’s easy access to markets and its excellent telecommunications infrastructure, among many other reasons.

London is one of the world's leading financial and industrial centres.

Is there still room for small- and medium- sized Nigerian businesses?

Yes, London is a highly attractive place to do business.

What advice do you have for Nigerian businesses which are considering setting up in the UK? The competence to compete in a global market is important. They also need to be able to find customers/clients and win them.

According to the Hackney website you have carried out over 300 assignments, what was it like serving your community in that capacity?

It is a huge honour to be Hackney's civic head and to have had the privilege of being the face of the borough at various events. It was a challenge but I am glad that I have done this with dignity and elegance.

These engagements includes having lunch with Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, presiding over Citizenship ceremonies, visits to schools, hospitals, Military offices, supporting businesses, supporting Hackney young people, supporting the Army, Police cadets, Scout, Brownies' to mention a few.

What were the lessons and challenges of serving as a Speaker of Hackney?

It takes over one's life, but it is a privilege. I love it. Never do I feel better about how I have spent my time than at the end Mr. Zenon Adamek of a busy day. What I find most challenging is presiding over the council debates and meetings.

Did being Nigerian make any difference?

No, it gave me dual advantage and support. An example, was in March when I had an International Evening to celebrate Hackney communities, I enjoyed excellent support from Nigerians in the UK. In adSusan Fajana-Thomas, Speaker of Hackney dition, as the first Ekiti descent in the UK to rise to the position of a Speaker [civic Mayor] I was celebrated by Ekiti.

The Governor sent representative; the Deputy Governor, Her Excellency, Mrs Funmilayo Olayinka, Chief Afe Babalola and two other members of Ekiti House of Assembly were in attendance. moment. cock offices in London Is Speakership preparation for he City of LonWhat makes a borough like Hackhigher political responsibility?

Excerpts: ney attractive to Nigerian businesses don is a Mecca recently.

Oh Yes, this is the start of the journey You featured prominently dur- like Peacock? for business but, ing the formal commissioning of Hackney is located, at the heart of for the future. I don't know how God will me there but I am sure, I am going to the various Bor- Peacock offices in London recently. London; it is hard to find a place with get How did you feel being a part of such more exciting prospects than Hackney. higher heights. I am preparing for whatoughs that make up the historic occasion, particularly given Hackney's central position makes it a ever it is.That's my part: I need to be ready.

From your experience as a councity are also very happy your Nigerian roots? strategically important commercial centre. cillor Speaker, are there any I featured prominently during the to have a new business formal commissioning because Peacock Hackney is a good location for Peacock lessonsand Nigeria can learn from the its good access to markets and its open in their locality. In office in London is in Hackney and I am with political system in the UK? diversity makes it a magnet for people Hackney Speaker, the first citizen.

Yes, Nigeria can learn the meaning from all over the world. this interview with PeaI was invited in my capacity as the In addition, Hackney is hosting almost of the word "Democracy" and "Social cock Travels team, the Speaker of Hackney to formally open the a third of the London 2012 Olympic and Equality" from our political system here first Nigerian Speaker of offices. A new investment is one of the Paralympic Games, the borough will re- in the UK. Let Nigeria politicians step out things that could happen to Hackney ceive millions of new visitors and will be of their self-centredness, corruption and Hackney opens up on the best at this time of economic downturn. lack of accountability and work to put an the focus of a global audience. opportunities waiting for As a British- Nigerian, I am extremely Is Hackney a safe bet for tidy re- end to the vicious cycle of poor health, to see a Nigerian such as Chief Se- turns on investments? poverty and social exclusion. As a nation, investors at the commis- proud gun Phillips with such a vision and investOh,Yes need to support her people, build sioning ceremony of Pea- ment in my borough. Simply a wonderful Would you encourage more Ni- Nigeria capabilities, and empower communities.

Hackney Is A Strategically Important Commercial Centre- Fajana

T