The Lagos State Government has called for increased investment, improved connectivity and stronger collaboration to unlock Africa’s tourism potential.
Mrs Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin, the Secretary to the Lagos State Government (SSG), made the call on Wednesday at the AeroWest Summit 2026 in Lagos.
Salu-Hundeyin said that no airport, airline or government could independently build a sustainable tourism economy, hence the need for stakeholders to work together.
She quoted Helen Keller, an American author and activist, as saying: “Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.”
The SSG said that there was a need for synergy among government, airlines, investors, financiers, technology providers, transport operators, hospitality businesses, the creative industry and communities.
She said that Lagos had demonstrated its tourism potential through the large number of visitors recorded during the festive season in 2024.
“I am sure a lot of us enjoyed our Detty December in 2024, although I call it Dainty December. We had over one million tourists into Lagos for the Detty December,” Salu-Hundeyin said.
According to her, the extraordinary visitor numbers demonstrate that people want to come to Lagos, and the responsibility is for stakeholders to make it easier for visitors to arrive, move around, spend and return.
She, however, urged stakeholders to look beyond Lagos, noting that West Africa possessed extraordinary tourism assets, a young population and enormous creative energy.
Salu-Hundeyin said that the region must confront the challenge of making its world-class destinations more accessible to visitors.
“That is where aviation finance, regional connectivity and tourism investment become critical.
“We need more routes, better infrastructure, smarter technology, greater private capital and stronger collaboration,” she said.
Salu-Hundeyin said that aviation brought visitors, connectivity moved them around, tourism gave them reasons to stay, while investment made the entire ecosystem sustainable.
She said that getting the aviation and tourism ecosystem right would not merely move more people, but grow economies, create jobs, unlock destinations and move West Africa closer to the prosperity it deserved.
Also speaking, Ms Ola Wright, the Chief Executive Officer of the West African Tourism Organisation (WATO), said that Africa did not lack destinations or extraordinary tourism assets, but lacked the connectivity and investment architecture needed to fully harness them.
“Africa does not lack destinations. Africa does not lack stories. Africa does not lack extraordinary tourism assets.
“What we have lacked is the connectivity and investment architecture required to unlock them,” Wright said.
She said that aviation and tourism could not be planned in isolation because tourism development depended largely on how visitors reached their destinations.
Wright said that connectivity was not merely about moving people from one airport to another, but about connecting economies, communities, cultures, investment and opportunities.
She said that the region’s challenge was not necessarily the creation of new attractions, but connecting existing ones to create viable tourism circuits.
“Our challenge is not simply creating attractions. In many cases, our challenge is to connect the attractions we already have,” Wright said.
The CEO of WATO urged stakeholders to invest in aviation and tourism infrastructure, calling for stronger links between West Africa and the Caribbean to promote the region’s shared history, culture and tourism opportunities.
She also urged the media to help project Africa’s authentic stories and protect its cultural heritage and legacy.
The Managing Director of Jet Afrique Aviation Services, Mr Theodore Chikelu, said that intra-regional connectivity could unlock an estimated $45 billion in additional Gross Domestic Product and two million jobs by 2030 in Africa.
Chikelu said that aviation and tourism remained two of the region’s most powerful potential engines of economic growth.
He, however, expressed worry that these sectors were operating significantly below capacity because of poor connectivity, high operating costs, regulatory fragmentation and inadequate destination infrastructure.
According to him, West and Central Africa, with more than 20 countries and over 500 million people, account for less than three per cent of global air travel.
He said this was in spite of Africa possessing significant cultural, natural and commercial assets.
Chikelu said that fewer than 30 per cent of more than 400 possible city-pair routes across the region were currently served by direct flights, describing connectivity as one of the biggest gaps limiting aviation and tourism growth.
“Until now, these two sectors have operated in separate silos across our regions, despite being two sides of the very same coin.
“You cannot build a thriving tourism destination without safe, affordable and seamless air connectivity.
“Airlines, in turn, cannot fill their seats without vibrant, attractive and accessible destinations,” he said.
