The National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) in collaboration with the Tour Operators Union of Ghana (TOUGHA) has concluded plans to organize the maiden edition of the African Tourism Conference to be held in South Africa in May, 2023.
The Association also announced that it would also hold its 47th Annual General Meeting in Abuja from April 25 to 27th 2023.
The President of NANAT, Mrs. Susan Akporiaye announced the coming of the two events in Lagos on Wednesday.
Akporiaye said that the event which was created by two industry associations, NANTA and TOUGHA has already been endorsed by South Africa Tourism (SAT).
She explained that in view of that the SAT will be hosting a hybrid multi-layer tourism industry conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, in May, 2023.
Speaking further, the NANTA boss said that both bodies have assembled the best faculty from the University of Johannesburg on tourism enterprise and related businesses, to help define and determine the immediate and future drive of the industry, its profitability and challenges.
This unique conference, which will be certificated, she said is open to individuals, organisations and agencies in Nigeria and Ghana, particularly those with eyes on impacting positively on the growth and sustainability of the various value chains in the African cultural tourism economy.
“We must appreciate and commend the management of South Africa Tourism (SAT), particularly their teams in Nigeria and Ghana for the special interest in our growth through knowledge based exposures and assistance to our clients wishing to visit, trade, and immerse in South African hospitality and culture.
“We no doubt hope to sustain the West Coast tourism collaboration between Nigeria and Ghana after the South Africa outing,” she said.
Speaking on why the two associations; NANTA and TOUGHA decided to pick South Africa to host the inaugural edition of this conference despite the xenophobic tendencies in the country,, Akporiaye said that it is not all South Africans that do not like Nigerians but the people exhibiting xenophobic attitudes towards Nigerians are very few .
She however stated that be that as it may, NANTA will not because of the way some people behave not to relate with South Africans as concerns culture, travel and tourism.
According to her, “Things are not the way it seems .We in tourism see ourselves as one with people of South Africa. In every crisis we choose not to join but to sell a different story. When we went to the market there were a lot of sided stories. Xenophobia will not stop us from going to South Africa to sell our tourism and culture.
“If they don’t like Nigerians, we will use tourism to make them like us. Don’t forget the conference is not only to sell our culture and tourism but to also unify Africa.”
She added that the SAT is going to bear the cost of putting the entire infrastructure needed to make the conference a success in place, adding that it is a huge investment on the part of SAT.
The NANTA President said that above all the association is not committing a dime to organize the conference in South Africa come May.
Already, she revealed that SAT has requested to be given three years to organise the event but that it has not been granted.
She also disclosed that Zimbabwe and other African countries are also eagerly warming up to host the conference after South Africa.
On the 47th AGM coming up in Abuja, from April 25th to 27th 2023, the NANTA President, said that the association will use the opportunity to learn from experts about areas of its business that must be addressed and improved upon.
She added that there is no doubt, the travel world is incredibly interesting but that there are also areas of concern such as trapped funds, monopoly, unfair practices, border and visa issues and whole lot of emerging complexities.
He said that the theme of its 47th AGM is “Professionalism: A Key to Surviving Aviation Downstream Turbulence and its Exploitative Effects”
Akporiaye hinted that the Executive Vice Chairman of Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Mr. Babatunde Irukera will speak at the event, not only on how they can confidentially protect its businesses and clients, but also on how to navigate challenges of foreign airlines trapped funds and its impacts on members businesses.
