The much anticipated first ever Awori Tourism Summit was held on Thursday at the magnificent Eden Hotel and Resort, Ota Ogun State. The 2019 summit was declared opened by the Head of Local Government Administration, Mrs Ayorinde who represented the council Chairman, High Chief Dele Adeniji.
Mrs Ayorinde, while declaring the summit open expressed that the Ado-odo/Ota tourism committee is the first ever to be initiated in Nigeria by any council.
She said the committee, since inception, has laid down remarkable blueprints for tourism development not just in the local government but in the entire state.
Ayorinde further explained that tourism remains a major source of revenue which has over the years been neglected but added that Ado-odo/Ota local government will revive ‘the treasure in comatose’ to set the pace for other councils in the state and Nigeria.
The Chairman of the committee, Prince Adetunji Fadina, however, in his opening speech said the committee has embarked on the journey of working towards the recovery of the forgotten Ado-Odo/Ota tourism products.
He said “The fact that tourism was not made a standalone Ministry in Nigeria clearly shows that the government does not recognize the role that the sector plays in economic development in our nation.
“Our top priority as we took over office was to advance a proactive agenda focused on tourism recovery through the implementation of strategies and programmes towards this purpose. With my agenda items being Marketing, Product development and Capacity building, we shall be engaged with various stakeholders in the tourism industry while reconnecting with tourism as a product.”
Fadina, the chief executive of Dinat Consulting and Jethro Tours, also seek public and private support for the committee’s efforts towards the wider goal of tourism recovery.
“As we may be aware, tourism is a product that is affected by other deliverables such as infrastructure and security.
“As a committee, we recognize the fact that tourism business like any other economic activity will not thrive with the challenges of infrastructure,” he said.
Speaking marketing the Ota tourism products, Fadina will launch a massive campaign through its marketing agency.
“The committee through its marketing agency, the tourism committee will launch an Ota 30 Million SMS campaign aimed at encouraging Awori to tour their community.
“The purpose of the campaign is to encourage the Awori people and residents to participate and win trips to various experiential travel destinations across the country.
“These incentives in combination with the private sector efforts will further increase domestic tourism by offering better-priced packages, and entice domestic travellers to travel more often within their own country, thus maintaining higher numbers during both the higher and lower seasons,” he stated.
Fadina also noted that the Department of Tourism has for a long time operated without Boards of Management and this has hindered a lot of activities within the institutions.
See Photos as captured at the event
