There was excitement in Custom House, ExCel London as Nigeria made a return to World Travel Market (WTM). It was the first time the country was participating in an international travel exhibition in almost ten years. Africa Travel Herald (ATH) was live in London to capture Nigeria’s participation.
Nigeria as a country has not exhibited for this long, but what was obvious moving round the stands and continents’ sections at WTM was that the travel and tourism business does not wait for anybody. There were so many new companies, innovations and products that are shaping the industry, providing solutions to travel business. Emerging and unheard travel solutions are dominating industry trends. Not being abreast of some of these trends makes one look like a dinosaur in a modern world. It was obvious, the world’s travel industry was not waiting for Nigeria to realize the need to play at that level. It was moving ahead.
The buzz at Nigeria’s stand was a palpable. Former Nigeria’s Minister of Tourism Mrs. Lola Ade-John provided the needed leadership ans supervision . However, the bulk of sponsorship for Nigeria’s participation was privately sourced.

Unlike in the past when the federal and state tourism parastatals dominated the stand, Nigeria’s stand this year was dominated by the private sector. The two exhibitors from the public sector were the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA) and the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
Nigeria’s exhibition stand area in the past usually stood alone, but with the presence of additional stands from the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA) and the West African Travel Organisation (WATO), the exhibition area became a cluster to exhibit Nigerian tourism products.
Nigeria’s stand had its own share of daily visitors who desired to engage with travel operators from Nigeria.
Lagos State delegation led by the state’s Commissioner of Tourism Arts and Culture, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka had a busy time showcasing the state’s tourism assets and potentials to visitors. The state promised to put up a bigger and better presentation next year.

It was an elated Mrs. Ola Wright, Nigeria’s consultant to the 2024 WTM and President of the West Africa Tourism Organization (WATO) that spoke with Africa Travel Herald: “To see a Nigerian stand built and Nigerians doing us proud…, we exhibit everything from our tourism offerings, the products…, from our arts and culture, our gastronomy, to our music. So, we demonstrated what Nigeria has to offer to the world. A lot of international media right from the beginning kept trouping to our stand for see what we have. The talked to the tour operators, Lagos state and so on.”
The President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) Mr. Nkereuwem Onung said he felt fulfilled with Nigeria’s participation. He heaped praises on the former tourism minister Mrs. Lola Ade-John for coordinating Nigeria’s participation. His words: “The message is that Nigeria is back to the international scene, while also appreciating that association called National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), because they actually made us look the way of the World Travel Market. Everybody had forgotten about it, and they did it for two years, and then the third year, we are all here. It is a thing of joy, because when you talk about marketing and promotion of a country, this is very vital.

The investments take place here; the new trends are showcased here. Whatever you want to find out, where will people go to? It is here you know about it. And for us to talk about a country and tourism and you are not at this expo, any trade expo, it is not just the WTM… we have not been in any trade expo as a country with marketing materials… But I’m sure you can see it today. You can see Ibom Air making their presence felt. You can see Lagos State also. This was a completely private sector driven. That means it can even happen without the government. So thanks to NANTA for letting us know how it can be done, and thanks to the former Minister of Tourism Mrs. Lola _John, who at least pulled up courage to get this done.”
The overwhelming success of Nigeria at this year’s WTM, has made many in the industry hope it can be built upon.