New tourism ministry will revamp national economy – Professionals

The National President of the Institute for Tourism Professionals of Nigeria (ITPN), Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, has tasked the newly-appointed Minister of Tourism, Ms Lola Ade-John, to bring her vast experience in the ICT, banking and resource management fields to bear in administering the new Ministry of Tourism.

The ITPN boss, while hailing President Bola Tinubu for establishing the Ministry of Tourism after years of clamouring by stakeholders and operators, also urged the new minister to “see her appointment as a clarion call to grow and develop the country’s tourism resources via the creative application of modern technology which is capable of generating great revenue, creating job opportunities, fighting poverty and revamping the ailing national economy.”

The ITPN chief, in a statement he signed after the unveiling of portfolios for ministers, expressed gratitude to the government for “heeding to the calls and aspirations of the Nigerian tourism community in the establishment of a stand-alone tourism ministry for the country.”

Odusanwo stressed that the decision remains “a very key and strategic move by the government to embrace tourism as a key driver of socio-economic growth of the country.”

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He noted that Nigeria is greatly endowed with huge tourism potentials waiting to be tapped, adding that industry players and critical stakeholders in the sector now look up to the minister to run the affairs of the ministry with the objective of re-positioning it as a viable government.

“The call for a stand-alone tourism ministry has been on for a very long time now, but coming to the rescue with the creation of the tourism ministry by this administration, it is hoped that the Renewed Hope agenda of this government will truly breathe a renewed hope in the Nigerian tourism industry for better performance in the nation’s socio-economic facet.”