The Director General of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, NIHOTOUR, Alhaji Nura Sani Kangiwa on Tuesday noted that Hospitality and Tourism laws in the country are long overdue for review in line with global best practices.
Kangiwa made the disclosure at a One-day Seminar on ‘Tourism and Hospitality Legislations for Improved Revenue Generation and Development: Lessons from China’ organized by the trio of NIHOTOUR, UNIABUJA and the China Cultural Centre in Nigeria,
Kangiwa also explained that the reviewed laws will help generate huge revenue as well as improve the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Speaking at the event, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, UNIABUJA, Prof. Abdul Rashid Na Allah said the institution is set to partner with NIHOTOUR to establish Departments of Travel-Tourism and Hospitality so as to deliver quality services of international standards.
He noted further that training and impactful vocational skills are what the tourism industry of the country desires to be able to explore and tap into the country’s vast tourism potentials for the socio-economic benefits of Nigeria and its people.
Also speaking at the occasion, Mr. Li Xuda, Cultural Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy and Director of China Cultural Centre in Nigeria who said China was able to record great successes in the growth and development of its tourism industry because the needed infrastructural facilities and hospitality amenities were put in place, called on Nigeria to invest and make the provision of functional infrastructures at tourism sites a priority if the tourism industry of the country is to thrive and flourish.
He noted that Nigeria like China, is blessed with historical and vast tourism resources and potentials that if properly harnessed, can serve as a major revenue generation sector for the government as well as create job opportunities for the Nigerian populace, noting further that adequate legislation is of paramount significance for a healthy and successful operation of the tourism industry.
Experts drawn from both public and private sectors of the industry as well as the academia are expected to deliver papers dwelling on the urgent need for the country to overhaul it obsolete tourism and hospitality laws and proffer far reaching recommendations that will bring about better and operations in the nation’s hospitality and travel-tourism industry.
