By Taiye Olayemi
The 20th edition of AKWAABA Africa Travel and Tourism Market opens in Lagos, with over 15 countries in attendance and no fewer than 29 exhibitors.
Some of the countries present are: Gambia, Congo, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Seychelles, Rwanda, Cameroon, Namibia,Cote d’ Ivoire, Togo, Mozambique and Mauritius.
Ghanaian traditional ruler, David Nana Anim, Okatakyie Nana Anim 1, who declared the travel expo open, commended the efforts of the organiser for sustaining the brand over the years.
Anim, who is the President of Royal Chiefs of Ghana, also commended the way Nigerians embraced other tourists during the expo, advising Africans to jettison all forms of division and stay united.
“I want to commend Mr Ikechi Uko, the organiser of AKWAABA, sustaining this expo for 20 years is not a joke.
“As you can see that Ghanaians and Nigerians are brothers and sisters, we are not enemies. Let us take advantage of this platform to network.
“I am so proud of this brand and happy to be celebrating with the good people of Nigeria.
“Tourism should be the key driver of the economy all over the world. We must work in unity to ensure we groom the industry to yield bountifully from it,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Ikechi Uko, organiser of the expo, said subsequent editions of the expo would be held together with other tourism events organised by him – Naija Seven Wonder, Chinet Aviation Expo and Bantaba Expo.
Uko said this decision was informed by his realisation that Nigeria had fully woken up to the business of tourism.
He noted that it was time to link Nigeria’s travel business with the global travel business.
“Thank you for coming for the 20th AKWAABA. I appreciate the tourism queens from other countries, who are present here.
“I was spurred to start AKWAABA by the need to encourage Africans to travel within Africa, because of the huge potentialities I saw and I want to appreciate everyone who has supported me all the way,’ he said.
A delegate from Cameroon, Agatha Iyok, Chief Executive Officer, Flora Travel and Tours, told NAN that AKWAABA had been a source of inspiration to her over the years.
Iyok said her main aim in AKWAABA was to gain the professional expertise to enable her host a similar travel expo in Cameroon, which she tagged “Cameroon International Tourism Fair”.
She said AKWAABA had been a veritable platform for networking, gathering travel knowledge as well as a platform for fostering peace, unity and collaboration among Africans.
According to her, through the platform, she has learnt resilience and endurance, urging delegates at the expo to continue to explore the platform for improvement in their businesses.
Mr Omololu Olumuyiwa, Convener, Youth Tourism and Hospitality Leaders Forum (YTHLF), commended Uko, for raising the Nigerian tourism brand beyond human comprehension in the last 20 years.
Olumuyiwa while presenting a photo frame of Uko, urged him to do more.
Also, Omowunmi Olatunbosun, Head of SME segment, Enterprise and Business at MTN Nigeria, enlightened the delegates on how the telecommunications company had transformed into a technological company.
Olatunbosun said MTN Nigeria was ready to assist practitioners in the tourism and travel business in the area of market expansion, customer enlargement and more.
Some of the travel and tourism exhibitors present were: Royal Caribbean, Unicorns Tour, Hotel2fevrier, Costa Cruises, Royal Senchi, Riva Travels, Ekiti State Tourism Bureau, Ibom Air, Cinderella, Ethiopia Airline, Travel Tank, Uganda Airline and Carnival Calabar.
Others are: Trip Benny, Gambia Tourism Board, Rainbow Tourism Group, Tanzania Tourism, Alisa Hotels, Lux Manjani Zanzibar, Ghana Tourism Authority, Kenya Tourism Board, African Regent Hotel and Lagos State Tourism agency.
The event also featured a Jollof Rice war among nine chefs, where tourism queens across African countries were the judges.
The challenge had Chef Niychas as the winner.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2024 AKWAABA Africa Travel and Tourism Market, which began Sept. 22 will end on Sept. 24. (NAN) (nannews.ng)
