Chief Abiodun Odusanwo is the head of the Local Organizing Committee of the annual National Tourism and Transportation Summit and Expo (NTTS )holding in Abuja first week of December. In this interview, he speaks on the NTTS 2024 edition coming up in the first week of December. Excerpts:

The event traditionally holds in April yearly, but this year it is slated for December, what necessitated this?

Yes, to some extent, the National Tourism Transportation Summit and Expo (NTTS) was held in the early months of the year; April and May. But there were instances the event took place in the later months of the year too. For instance, in 2020, the third edition was held in December, 7th – 8th and the fourth edition of 2021, was held in November, 15th – 16th. Therefore, the event does not have any traditionally fixed month of the year in which it holds. It depends on logistics and the suitability of the date to our esteemed and enviable collaborating partners, participants, exhibitors, visitors, guests and the generality of the stakeholders for whom the event is staged.

Would the fact that it is holding this late in the year affect it negatively in terms of participation and impact?

Not at all. I mean the December date was arrived at after due consultations with relevant stakeholders and our esteemed participants. Just as it was done previously before it was held in both December, 2020 and November, 2021 with massive turnouts. This year too, we are expecting greater turnout of participants and visitors to the annual combined tourism and transportation industry event.

How is the preparation for this year’s event shaping up?

Excellently well! As usual, we’ve reached out to our esteemed participants, exhibitors, speakers and guests with whom we discussed and the December date was arrived at. All the planning and preparations to have a wonderful and successful summit and expo for the 2024 edition are fully on course. We have received quite a number of responses from MDAs, the Organized Private Sector, including corporate organizations, NGOs and members of the diplomatic communities of their participation in the summit and expo.

What are your expectations for this year?

My expectations as usual, is that we’re going to have a very robust and high level of discussions that is in-depth on the resolutions reached at the past six editions of the summit and expo. During each of six events, meaningful and concrete decisions and resolutions were reached and adopted, which formed the communiques. However, if the implementation of these resolutions are not discussed on the way forward, that may put the very essence of the Summit and Expo in great jeopardy. Therefore, those stakeholders responsible for the implementation of the communique will be on ground to chat the way forward. I believe with this, my expectation of hosting a successful Summit would have been achieved.

What informed the change of theme for this year and what is it supposed to achieve?

Every year, the choice of the theme for the Summit and Expo is informed by the appropriateness of time and prevailing circumstances. This year is not an exception. This year’s summit is taking into consideration the vital documents that the past six editions of the summit have produced in the form of communiques and the need to have them implemented by the various concerned critical key players, stakeholders, and in particular, policy makers and regulators of the industry. We believe that implementation of the communiques will serve as roadmaps and give the industry players the leeway to play their respective roles in the most appropriate ways that guarantee the best global industry practices for the economic benefits of the country. Thus, the theme for the 2024 and 7th edition of the National Tourism Transportation Summit and Expo is Tourism Transportation Connectivity: Accelerating The Synergy for National Economic Development. This is in view of our observation that communiques of the past summits have largely remained unattended to which seems to relegate the purpose for which the summit and expo was approved and being hosted.

What are some of the new activities introduced for this year?

As you already know, the National Tourism Transportation Summit and Expo is always full of new innovations and strategies aimed at achieving the essence of the Summit, which is to deepen the synergy and connectivity that exist between tourism and transportation. The 2024 edition is coming with an arrangement that offers all stakeholders, both in the public and private sectors the platform and opportunity to make presentations stating how their activities can improve on and achieve better performance of synergy between and amongst all key players in the tourism and transportation sectors of the economy. This is because, the tourism industry is a vast and diverse sector cutting across all fields and facets of our national economy. Again, the Summit will focus much attention by bringing all aspects of the Nigerian transportation sub-sectors, viz-a-viz; aviation, rail, water (marine) and land transportation together so as to deepen, explore more areas of collaboration, partnership and operational guidelines for a robust synergy with the Tourism Industry to achieve the desired combined industry operation for national economic growth and development. This is also in line with the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive that the aviation and other transportation modes to partner, collaborate and explore all areas of inter-connectivity and synergy between transportation and tourism.

You have run with AfCFTA theme for over three years in a roll, what informed that and what impact has that made?

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement AfCFTA, established in 2018, is meant to create a single continental market, the largest in the world, for goods and services in Africa. It presents significant economic opportunities to Nigeria as well as challenges in its operations. We therefore decided to focus on it for three consecutive years of our event from 2020 to 2022 to create the necessary awareness amongst Nigerian key economic players in the African Continent for a prosperous economic growth leveraging on the Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The first AfCFTA event had the theme; Tourism Transportation Connectivity and Partnership: Leveraging the AfCFTA Regime for Economic Sustainability. which was informed by the need to leverage on the strategic framework of delivering on Africa’s goal for inclusive and sustainable development through accelerated Intra-African trade that will boost Africa’s trading position in the global market by strengthening Africa’s common voice and policy space in global trade negotiations that AfCFTA was meant to offer; The second had African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): Strengthening Connectivity, Effect and Partnership, which seeks to explore such areas as human capacity training for quality labour mobility, developing and marketing of the Nigerian tourism potentials, infrastructural development in intra-modal transportation sector among others to enable it participate effectively in the AfCFTA Regime; and the third was AfCFTA: Exploring Intra-African Trade, Tourism and Transportation Opportunities and Mitigating the Barriers to Collaboration with the objective of deepening the understanding, working, implementation and challenges of actualizing the AfCFTA regime implementation and the collaborative synergy requires amongst institutional players of the trade liberalization agreement in its entirety and for the benefits of a maximum inclusive growth and sustainable development of the Nigerian economy, the West African Sub Region and the African Continent as a whole.

This summit has held for over six years now, what would say has been its impact?

The National Tourism Transportation Summit and Expo has had a profound impact on Nigeria’s tourism and transportation industries. For six consecutive years, this event brought together stakeholders from both sectors to discuss critical issues and opportunities for growth and adopted far reaching decisions and resolutions to serve as policy guidelines by combined key players in the industry. Some of the key outcomes includes; improved collaboration which the summit has fostered between tourism and transportation stakeholders, enhancing their understanding of each other’s roles in promoting Nigeria’s economic development; increased investment opportunities of public-private partnerships and stimulating growth in both sectors; capacity building, the Summit provided the platform for training and capacity development, empowering professionals in the tourism and transportation industries to deliver exceptional services; policy reforms, the discussions and recommendations from the Summit influenced policy reforms, shaping the future of Nigeria’s tourism and transportation sectors. These are just few among many other achievements and impacts of the Summit.

What are most excited or proud about this summit in terms of what it has achieved?

The summit offers numerous exciting aspects. Top exciting features are; networking opportunities that connect industry leaders, policymakers and professionals; Offers expert insights to learn from renowned speakers, panelists and workshop facilitators. Others include exhibition and showcasing innovative products, services and destinations; Policy discussions of engaging in high-level conversations shaping Nigeria’s tourism and transportation sectors, awards and recognition to celebrate outstanding achievements in tourism and transportation, destination promotions and the discovery of Nigeria’s hidden gems and emerging destinations as well as technology and innovations, exploring cutting-edge solutions that will transform the industries. And of course, not forgetting the cultural experiences that immerse attendees in Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage through performances, food, arts, etc.

What has been the most challenging thing about this Summit?

Organizing the summit since its inception in 2018 has presented several challenges with the first been establishing credibility and buy-in from stakeholders. Been a new innovation that seeks to explore and deepen the connectivity that exists between tourism and transportation, getting people to accept the idea and partake in it wasn’t initially easy. But with time, it became a house-hold name that industry players looked forward to every year. Securing funding and sponsorship of the Summit are other herculean tasks that, as organizers, we had to deal with. As a national event, which has some international dimensions, coordinating logistics and venue selection that befits the event came with its hurdles. In terms of operational challenges, particularly, adapting to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and protocols in 2020 and 2021, brought some challenges, but we were successfully able to surmount. Others are managing diverse stakeholders’ interests and expectations and ensuring that we remain consistent in terms of organizational quality and relevance.

What has kept you going yearly in spite of the challenges?

Our persistence in hosting the National Tourism Transportation Summit and Expo year in year out despite challenges, can be attributed to the passion we have for and in the industry for its growth and development. This also comes with the commitment to growing Nigeria’s tourism and transportation sectors as well as the desire to bridge the gaps between stakeholders and deepen the synergy and connectivity. Basically, what inspired the birth of the Summit, is the unwavering vision for a thriving integrated industry, and with the support and collaborative partnership of stakeholders, we have been able to come thus, far. More importantly too, is government’s (MDAs) recognition of the Summit’s impact as well as the private sector’s confidence in the positive impacts of the Summit. The collaboration and support enjoyed from industry associations cannot be over emphasized in inspiring us to continue to host the Summit, and most certainly, the media, which has continued to give the event full coverage and publicity.

This will be the first summit with a full-fledged Tourism Ministry in place. What is the implication of that for the Summit?

Hosting the summit under a new full-fledged Ministry of Tourism will surely have a significant impact on the Summit. The summit, which aims to build strong synergy between tourism and transportation, will now be backed by a dedicated Ministry and its staff, whose focus is mainly on the sector, thus, potentially leading to more effective coordination and participation in the event. The Minister will take full charge as the Host Minister for the tourism sector of the Summit, while the Ministers in the Transportation sector will lead as Host Ministers of their respective Transportation Ministries. A dedicated Ministry of Tourism would facilitate better collaboration between stakeholders in the tourism and transportation sectors, leading to enhanced collaboration, cohesive planning and better involvement in hosting the Summit and Expo. This will further lead to Improved visitor experience, leading to increased tourism activities and growth.

Have we seen much of integration and interlink yet among the various sectors as preached by the summit?

Since the commencement of the National Tourism Transportation Summit and Expo, there has been noticeable progress in interlinking, interplaying and interconnecting among stakeholders in the sector. Here are some of the inter-links we believe came about as a result of the Summit. Increased collaboration, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), Enhanced cooperation between government agencies, private sector operators, and stakeholders, Inter-Ministerial coordination: Improved collaboration among relevant ministries; Tourism, Transportation, Aviation, Marine and Blue Economy. Stakeholder engagements via regular interactions between Summit organizers, industry players and Associations. It has also brought about increased networking opportunities.

Are you expecting the full participation of the Ministry in the 2024 edition?

Absolutely, yes! As part of the consultations and interactions with industry stakeholders, the Inter-Ministerial Organizing Committee, led by my humble self being the Chairman, visited quite a number of MDAs and the Organized Private Sector during which meaningful discussions ensured for the successful hosting of the 2024 edition of the Summit. Part of the visitations took us to the Office of the Honourable Minister of Tourism who graciously received us. Her enthusiasm about the Summit in particular, and the industry in general, cannot be over stressed. We got a positive nod from the Hon. Minister of her Ministry’s readiness to offer technical support and personally attend the Summit. This is given the significance the Minister attaches to event in promoting synergy between tourism and transportation and the opportunities the event offer to mitigate barriers to inter-ministerial and agency collaboration. She welcomes and alluded to the fact that the Summit is focused on firming tourism and transportation synergy, which aligns with the ministry’s goals and objectives. We are happy to state that with the present level of the tourism ministry’s involvement, the event can effectively address industry challenges and opportunities, ultimately driving growth and development in Nigeria’s tourism and transportation sectors.