Travel and tourism writers in the country have commended the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, for constituting a review committee for the stalled National Tourism Master plan; this is also as they charged members of the committee to apply due diligence in the exercise of their responsibilities.
A statement by the group under its umbrella body, the Association of Nigerian Journalists and Writers of Tourism (ANJET) while advising the review committee ‘‘to be realistic with a view to avoiding the pitfalls which bedeviled the implementation of the original master plan launched in 2007,’’ thumbed up the minister for initiating the committee to find a meaningful pathway for Nigerian tourism.
ANJET, in its statement, also assured of its readiness to formally present a position paper if requested by the technical committee on the review of the tourism, master plan.
While also lauding Mohammed for keeping to his word by initiating the process, which is being spear headed with the involvement of an adviser seconded from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), Mr. Jim Anthony Flannery, the tourism writers, however, noted that the tourism master plan failed because the committee along the line derailed in its set objectives.
“We want to commend the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed for setting up this technical committee to review the tourism master plan. This itself has become imperative considering that the original master plan has been abandoned since its launch by successive administrations that had continued to pay lip service to its implementation.
“It is our wish that this time around a perfect document will be produced.
“If called upon to present a position paper by the committee we are ready. We know the challenges in the industry largely because we are on ground.
“We want the committee to be thorough in its work and ensure that the new plan is a representative of what exists in the country and reflect the reality on ground. In the same way as there is need for the new document to be attractive, simple and less burdensome so as to make it easy for anyone to understand and make the implementation equally simple with definite time line.
“The document must be able to create a tourism philosophy for the country, which is easily identifiable across the land and pursued by all with singleness of mind and purpose,” the ANJET statement read.
