The Minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John said the Federal Government has reviewed existing tourism policies and is standardising hotels to attract tourists and investors into the country.
Ade-John stated this at the seventh Annual Master Lecture Series (AMLS) 2024 organised by the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) on Thursday in Abuja.
According to her, as part of President Bola Tinubu ‘s Renewed Hope Agenda, efforts were in place to meet certain targets, create job opportunities, improve practices and increase revenue in the tourism industry.
“As part of the renewed hope agenda, we are ensuring that we meet certain targets, improve job creation, increase revenue, better practices and also ensuring that we all work together with different stakeholders to achieve these objectives.
“We have reviewed existing tourism policies and we are standardising hotels, and we are working on our master plan, and setting the standards for our culinary skills and training.
“Most importantly, we have been going around selling our doctrine according to tourism in all the communities across the country, although we just started, but we are making very good progress and the states are all excited,” she said.
The minister, therefore encouraged participants at the lecture to take learnings from discussions and implement them, as well as engage communities on better food and farming practices for the health and well-being of the nation.
The Director General, NIHOTOUR, Nura Sani-Dangiwa underscored the critical importance of addressing food security, quality and accessibility in the country.
“This event is a testament to our commitment to academic excellence and professional development serving as a platform for fostering, adding also to the knowledge, research and innovation in the filed of hospitality and tourism.
“The theme, Sustainable Food Production from Farm to Table” is timely and relevant, especially in the context of the government’s ongoing efforts to enhance the food production and distribution system in Nigeria.
“By focusing on sustainable practices from farm to table, we aim not only at improving the availability and affordability of our food culture and lifestyle, but also ensure that the quality standard and nutritional value comes from the value change,” he said.
Sani-Dangiwa noted that Nigeria with its rich agricultural resources has the potentials has the potential to become a key player in the global food market.
“However, these potentials can only be fully realised through systemic research, innovation and collaboration among various stakeholders.
“Hence, the need for rigorous scientific enquiries and knowledge dissemination in the field of food production and management, which has never been more pressing than now.”
The National Leader of, the Youth Tourism Development Organisation (YTDO), Emmanuel Okon emphasised the role of youths in the hospitality and tourism industry, which he said has contributed to the mainstream tourism development and revenue for the country.
The National Deputy President of, the Federation of Tourism Association (FTAN), Badaki Aliyu said: “Today is an opportunity for us to learn more about things that happen around us in the tourism and hospitality industry and put them to use.”
Dr Nathaniel Omotoba, Department of Tourism Development, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), while presenting on sustainable food production from farm to table emphasised that it would promote locally grown food directly to the consumers.
Omotoba added that it would also ensure the seamless integration of sustainable, locally sourced food production into hospitality establishments.
By Justina Auta
