Lagos untapped tourism facilities to generate revenue

By Ebere Chibuzor

Lagos State Government has continued to express its readiness in harnessing tourism’s potential, saying such would stir development.

Its Commissioner for Tourism, Arts. and Culture, Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf, who disclosed this recently in Lagos during the 2021 ministerial press briefing where she gave an accout of stewarship of Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu in the last two years on tourism and culture ssaid “some areas of tourism activities that have not been given attention before have now been captured in the Master Plan and they would engender all-round development of every aspect of tourism in the coming years”.

She explained that more attention would be given to the development of the state’s waterfront for tourism purposes under Beach and Leisure captured in the Tourism Master Plan, the exploration of medical tourism, focus on Meetings, Incentives , Conference and Exhibition (MICE ), among others.

According to her, the ministry’s activities under Governor Sanwo-olu’s administration are deliberately structured towards positioning the state as a major tourism destination in Africa where the private sector can confidently invest their resources to advance tourism and entertainment sector.

She said the development of a Tourism Master Plan would serve as a pathway for the implementation of every tourism activity in the state, adding that the document would change the narrative in the state’s tourism sector and ensure uniformity of government programmes, plans and policies in the development of tourism.

Akinbile-Yussuf described the document as a worthwhile achievement under the administration of Mr. Sanwo-olu since two years ago in addition to other tourism infrastructure being put in place simultaneously in different parts of the state.

With this Master Plan in place, the Commissioner said the era of haphazard development of tourism activities in the state has gone “There will now be a structured guideline that must be followed for short, medium and long term tourism activities and projects,” she said.

She continued: “We have equally identified the business side of entertainment and tourism. Beyond using tourism and entertainment as a vehicle for fun, relaxation and social integration, entertainment and tourism remain a major source of income generation for different countries and cities of the world and we will also leverage this aspect to boost the state’s IGR.

“We believe in creating an enduring atmosphere for Tourism activities to thrive, being a majorly private-sector driven sector. It is our belief that when businesses operate under the right atmosphere, the economic activities of the State would increase and the resources at the disposal of government would also be impacted greatly.”

To her, within the last one year, which is the second year of the present administration, her ministry had made appreciable progress in positioning entertainment and tourism to occupy its rightful position.

“We have maintained a better relationship with our stakeholders, developed policies that would guide tourism activities and also implemented programmes and projects as it relates to the fulfilment of the fifth pillar of the THEMES agenda of the administration of Governor Olusola Babajide Sanwo-Olu,” she said.