…Says country needs coordinated action to promote tourism assets
By Jimoh Babatunde
The Director-General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA), Ola Awakan, has called for a coordinated national strategy to promote Nigeria’s tourism assets, stressing that the country has abundant tourism content that remains underexploited due to inadequate collaboration and deliberate promotion.
Awakan, who spoke in his message to the 2026 Annual Conference and Awards of the Association of Nigerian Journalists and Writers of Tourism (ANJET) at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, said Nigeria needed to move beyond institutional and legal reforms to develop a unified tourism agenda capable of driving economic growth.
He noted that Nigeria’s tourism potential could only be fully realised if federal and state governments, private sector operators, host communities and other industry stakeholders worked together to project the country as a destination.
“Outside the shores of this country, what people see is Nigeria and not any state. If it is Nigeria, we need to have a coordinated tourism, hospitality and travel agenda and the right structure to drive it to the next level,” he said.
According to him, the challenge facing Nigeria’s tourism industry is not a lack of attractions but the absence of sufficient, deliberate efforts to package and promote the country’s diverse offerings to domestic and international audiences.
“It is not about the fact that we don’t have content. We have more than enough content. All we need to do is to be deliberate in pushing this content to drive development in Nigeria. And I am committed to that,” Awakan stated.
He identified storytelling as a critical instrument for showcasing Nigeria’s cultural heritage, natural attractions, indigenous cuisines, festivals, arts and hospitality offerings, noting that effective promotion could help correct negative perceptions and improve the country’s destination image.
The NTDA chief, who described himself as a storyteller, disclosed that the Authority was developing a tourism-dedicated streaming platform in partnership with the private sector, with work on the project about 75 per cent complete.
He said the initiative was part of efforts to create platforms for telling Nigeria’s tourism stories and presenting the country’s attractions to wider audiences.
“We are working with relevant stakeholders to write stories about who we are as a people. Nigeria is a microcosm of stories and we are yet to start telling these stories,” he said.
Awakan stressed that Nigeria should be presented internationally through its cultural richness, creative industries and tourism destinations rather than being defined solely by negative narratives surrounding insecurity and poverty.
He added that tourism development was a shared responsibility that required government, private investors, communities and the media to work towards common objectives.
“The development of the country does not lie with government alone. Society is made up of government and the governed, so we have to work together to make Nigeria great,” he said.
The NTDA boss also underscored the importance of tourism journalism in building destination confidence, attracting investments and stimulating travel, urging journalists to adopt solution-driven reporting, fact-based analysis, digital innovation and compelling destination storytelling.
He reaffirmed the Authority’s commitment to working with the media on destination marketing, tourism promotion and policy communication, expressing confidence that a coordinated approach would help transform Nigeria’s tourism resources into economic opportunities.
“Together, let us tell Nigeria’s tourism story with truth, creativity, responsibility and national pride, because the right story told well can turn destinations into opportunities and tourism into prosperity,” Awakan said.
