Ministry commends Ambode for good performance, 2 years after
The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture has given a breakdown of its achievements in the last two years since the Lagos State Governor Mr Akinwunmi Ambode assumed office, stressing that their achievements are based on the assistance and good conduct of the governor.
Special Adviser And Acting Commissioner For Tourism, Arts And Culture, Adebimpe Akinsola gave the commendation during a ministerial press briefing in commemoration of the second year anniversary of the administration of Ambode on Monday.
Akinsola said that in keeping to its vision of making Lagos State one of the top ten preferred destination for tourism and entertainment in Africa , the ministry has continued to engage in programs and events set at achieving the vision in the last two years.
“It therefore gives me great pleasure to be here to render an account of our stewardship and achievements in commemoration of the Second year in office of His Excellency, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the Governor of Lagos State”, Akinsola said.
Narrating a brief history of the ministry, he said that Tourism and Culture were departments under different Ministries untill 2015 when the present Administration realligned the State ministerial structure and responsibilities in line with the desire of His Excellency, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, the Governor of Lagos State to strategically harness the economic benefits provided by the abundance of talents in creative arts, entertainment and sports in the State.
“The formulation of Project THESE (Tourism Hospitality Entertainment and Sports) to achieve excellence was thus conceived to generate economic returns to the State. In terms of organisational efficiency, the dream for achieving the desired goal can only be met with the accommodation of arts, culture and tourism responsibilities under same ministry. Hence, the creation of a full-fledged Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture confirms the importance the Administration attaches to the sector and demonstrate readiness to tap into the huge benefits and socio-economic potentials in the creative industry”, he added.
According to him, the ministerial mandate include: Initiate, formulate, execute, monitor and evaluate policies relating to Tourism, Arts and Culture; Promotion of investment in hotels and development of tourism projects; Tourism promotion and information dissemination; Establishment of a tourism development fund; Hotel licensing; Relations with tourism related institution; Tourism research and development; Tourism and hospitality training; Relations with and regulation of tour operators and travel agents within the State and Registration, classification and regulation of tourism establishments (Hotels, Motels, Inns. Restaurants etc).
Others , according to Akinsola are: Facilitating tourism land allocation; liaison with relevant Agencies; Facilitating plan for tourism project; Monitoring of private sector tourism project implementation and development; Liaison with the Federal Ministry responsible for Tourism as well as international organizations; Registration, classification and regulation of places of entertainment and recreation.
