Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf, Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, admonished the leadership of local government areas within the state on Tuesday to champion the advancement of domestic tourism.
Akinbile-Yusuf made the call during the commemoration of the 2022 World Tourism Day, with the theme “Rethinking Tourism”, while the Lagos State theme is, “Rethinking Tourism through the Host Communities”.
The commissioner stressed that local governments were the custodians of most of the tourism assets the nation is gifted with, adding that their support for the promotion of domestic tourism in the state will go a long way in moving the industry forward.
“Efforts must be made by various local government areas in the state to complement what the ministry is doing in developing domestic tourism.
“This is because no one understands the terrain of the various councils better than members of these communities themselves.
“The local government chairmen need to be more involved in investing in the development of the sector,” she said.
According to Akinbile-Yusuf, full tourism development cannot occur without the committed efforts of all stakeholders and related sectors, saying that this had demanded the ministry’s move in collaborating with Destination Communications Ltd. to host this year’s World Tourism Day.
She reiterated that the community-based tourism initiative established by the ministry was consciously done to provide opportunities for employment, revenue generation and local earnings from goods and services.
“The onus now is on the six pilot local government areas captured in our community-based tourism initiative to take ownership of the tourism assets in their various domains.
“They should begin to look inward and draw up their own tourism programmes that will be community-based.
“This administration is committed to the sustainable development of tourism and all its allied industries in the state.
“It is in this regard and in our determination to ensure the earliest commencement of the implementation of the Tourism Master Plan,” she said.
The recommendations which had been made after the programme was to create strong a synergy between the state and the national tourism bodies in identifying tourism assets toward creating an enabling environment.
It was also recommended that the National Council for Tourism comprising state commissioners, ministers; heads of tourism agencies, directors, and professionals be united for the development of the sector.
