Lagos activates plan to become major tourism destination in Africa

Determined to make Lagos State a tourist attraction, the State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, has informed that series of tourism activities of the ministry under the present administration is deliberately structured towards positioning Lagos as a major tourism destination in Africa, where the private sector can confidently invest their resources to advance the state’s tourism and entertainment sector.
  
The Commissioner made this disclosure while presenting the account of stewardship of Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu’s administration in the tourism and entertainment sector in the last two years. She said with the development of a tourism master plan that will serve as a pathway for the implementation of every tourism activity in the State, 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.

She noted that more attention would be given to the development of the State’s waterfront for tourism purposes, under Beach and Leisure.

“This would be captured in the tourism master Plan, the exploration of medical tourism, focused on Meetings, Incentives, Conferences And Exhibition (MICE) among others. 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. 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 the government would also be impacted greatly,” she said.
  
Akinbile-Yussuf, however, noted that within the last year into the second year of the present administration, the 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 agenda of the theme of the administration of Governor Olusola Babajide Sanwo-Olu.”