President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), Mr. Nkereuwem Onung has called for Nigeria’s return and participation in major international expos. He said the expos offer practitioners in the travel industry the necessary exposure to understand the nitty-gritty of the industry.   The FTAN President, while speaking with Africa Travel Herald, said these travel expos usually offer industry practitioners the opportunity to network and grow their businesses. “Nigeria must return to international expo,” he said, “That is where we get exposure in our interaction with outsiders. This helps us drive our businesses.”

On the forthcoming 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of FTAN fixed for July 30, the FTAN President said the AGM  will be used as an opportunity to forge greater collaboration between the public and private sector in a bid to promote a harmonious working relationship to move the Nigerian tourism industry forward.

His words: “We hope that our desire for the government and the private sector to forge a collaborative approach towards tourism development will become a reality. We keep hammering on this issue of cooperation. It is not something we should be bringing up in an AGM, but events and the current happenings make it important.

“Government is not actually doing much in the industry. We are the ones generating the employment the industry has, the increased revenue, the tourism support system is provided by the private sector, the hotels belongs to us, and so on. We are doing everything, but we are looking for the government and we can’t find them. They think it is about money, no. it is about us working together.  “Among what the federation is clamouring for he said, is the return of the country to international expo.  His words:”

International travel expos Nigeria used to participate in include the World Travel Market (WTM), FITUR, ITB-Berlin, Arabian Travel Market, and many more.