In its efforts to address some of the major challenges surrounding hospitality and tourism in Nigeria, Women in hospitality in Nigeria, WIHN, has called for government participation and support, saying the industry cannot survive without the government’s involvement at the Federal and State levels.
This was expressed on Saturday at the HOSPITALITEA 4.0 roundtable event in Lagos with the theme, “Leveraging local experiences for hospitality and tourism growth in Nigeria.”
Justina Ovat, President, WIHN, in her opening remarks noted that the COVID-19 was a big issue for the industry but inadvertently led to the development of domestic tourism but while exposing the many issues that government must address such as infrastructure, security, and internet for the industry to keep booming.
In his Keynote address, Prof. Wasiu A. Babalola, Honorary Chairman, Institute of Hospitality, UK, urged participants to understand the peculiarities and strengths of women and imbibe them in the industry to make things work.
He also urged the government to make laws to protect tourism which would, in turn, create avenues for other businesses to grow saying “the constitution does not stop a governor from protecting tourism in his state.
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“Government and the private sector need to sit on a table to discuss how to develop tourism in Nigeria due to the trust issues they have because the government sees the private sector as some dubious folks who are fond of withholding data and hiding facts while the private sector sees government as folks just wanting to bill and extort them without providing the adequate support,” he said.
On his part, Nkeruwem Onung, President, Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN) urged women to aspire for leadership and management positions in the hospitality and tourism industry as there are more women actively involved in the field but fewer are in leadership positions.
Also speaking at the event, Princess Adenike Adedoyin-Ajayi, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture called for domestic tourism development saying the best way to do that is through collaborative efforts of all stakeholders in the industry.
The event had in its panel session hospitality experts and enthusiasts who shared professional views with interactions from the attendees and was also used to enlighten practitioners on opportunities available in the industry.
Members of the panel included Clara Chinwe Okoro, Founder My Beautiful Africa; Michael Balogun, Founder Tour2Nigeria; Nnenna Fakoya-Smith, Founder Nene-Uwa Hub Ltd, and Funke Olusoga-Ogunlade, founder of FunkeO company, as moderator of the session.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Yvonne Joseph, CEO 2wenty2 Hospitality and Allied Services and Director of Events, Public Relations and Social Media Management WIHN, was grateful for the event’s success, saying the conversations and thoughts shared would be accumulated to action points for the industry.
“We are not stopping here. We would collate the points and suggestions discussed today then ensure we churn out actionable points that we can use in our engagements with the government and all stakeholders in the industry.”
About WIHN
Women in Hospitality Nigeria (WIHN) is an association of strong female professionals engaged in management, operations, travel and tourism, education, consultancy, and development in the hospitality and tourism industry in Nigeria, whose aim is to support and unify women while empowering and inspiring them to grow and attain leadership positions in the hospitality and tourism industry.
