Domestic Tourism Takes Centre Stage At Akwaaba With Nigeria’s New Strategy

Published on September 23, 2025

The Federal Republic of Nigeria has reiterated its strategical intent to fortify nan continent’s tourism assemblage by prioritising nan promotion of home travel, a committedness exemplified by nan Federal Government’s caller initiatives and pronounced astatine nan 21st Akwaaba African Travel Market, held successful Lagos. This premier gathering assembles tourism practitioners, investors, and organization partners from crossed Africa. Addressing participants, Dr. Mukhtar Muhammad, nan Permanent Secretary wrong nan Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, articulated an eager argumentation imagination that situates home tourism arsenic nan foundational constituent of a tourism betterment and sustainable resilience schedule for nan full continent.

Akwaaba 2023 framed home tourism arsenic nan strategical introduction constituent for African betterment successful nan sector, a position reiterated by Dr Muhammad’s keynote address. The Permanent Secretary framed home recreation not simply arsenic an ancillary market, but arsenic an organization pillar from which a robust continent-wide tourism strategy must beryllium constructed. In an situation of persistent world shocks—economic volatility, pandemics, and location conflicts—Dr. Muhammad based on that Africa’s sustainable tourism strategy is inextricably linked to its ain citizens. By mobilising African travellers to re-discover and observe nan continent’s humanities sites, divers landscapes, vibrant festivals, and rich | culinary heritage, nan assemblage has nan imaginable to engender heightened nationalist civic pride, catalyse location labour markets, and underpin inclusive patterns of economical accumulation that agelong from section communities to nationalist treasuries.

Nigeria’s existent strategical tourism blueprint embodies a clear, forward-looking vision. Through a deliberate committedness to community-driven tourism, nan systematic enhancement of captious infrastructure, and nan purposeful integration of nan imaginative economy, nan argumentation seeks to make sustainable economical advantages for big populations and simultaneously elevate nan country’s floor plan arsenic a compelling world destination. Dr Muhammad further emphasised that cultivating effective, transparent public-private futures will beryllium consequential for mobilising nan superior and method knowledge imperative to grow nan sector’s latent capacity.

Concurrently, a afloat reconsideration of nan National Tourism Policy is underway, mirroring nan committedness to fostering resilient, home-grown, visitant patterns. Dr Muhammad characterised nan reappraisal arsenic some participatory and iterative, drafting input from a wide constellation of actors ranging from micro-entrepreneurs to national method bodies. The intent is to nutrient a regulatory model that balances nan aspirations of section councils and enterprises pinch an ambition to inhabit a credible, competitory niche connected nan world stage. Through systematic stakeholder engagement, nan workout is expected to calibrate nationalist tourism argumentation to prevailing economical and marketplace dynamics, frankincense embedding durability and strategical coherence into nan guardant trajectory of nan sector.

Nigeria’s Cultural Heritage arsenic a Tourism Asset

Nigeria’s abundant taste diverseness and scenic landscapes person consistently served arsenic cardinal drivers for nan country’s tourism economy. Featuring lively taste festivals, ancient monuments, and artisanal crafts, nan federation presents a compelling array of attractions that embody its enduring traditions. The caller Akwaaba Trade Show frankincense presented a strategical level for Nigerian taste and imaginative sectors, encompassing accepted euphony and dance, ocular arts, and handcrafted merchandise. Complementing this promotional agenda, nan Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation continues to prosecute strategical alliances crossed nan aviation, hospitality, integer technology, and younker empowerment sectors, consolidating synergies that underpin nan sector’s longer-term growth.

Promoting Pan-African Tourism Collaboration

Across nan Akwaaba deliberations, a recurrent taxable emerged: nan necessity for strengthened intra-African tourism networks. Dr. Muhammad, nan forum’s lead panelist, emphasised nan imperative that African states cultivate coordinated partnerships to afloat realise nan continent’s latent tourism value. Through nan constitution of mutually reinforcing separator collaborations, nan speech of proven practices, and nan curating of integrated tourism circuits, African economies tin forge a much unified and internationally competitory visitant market. Achieving this ambition will necessitate a coordinated schedule of carrier and integer infrastructure improvements, region-wide promotional campaigns, and nan liberalisation of work entree for tourism stakeholders crossed nan continent.

Pan-African practice wrong tourism is not simply an economical expedient; it is an imperative instrumentality for constructing sustainable worth chains pinch cascading benefits for communities crossed nan continent. Dr. Muhammad encouraged intensified investments successful Africa’s youth, designating them arsenic some nan main catalysts and superior beneficiaries of nan sector. Integration of integer technologies, together pinch nan deepening of public-private collaborations, offers personnel states nan intends to modernise tourism curricula, heighten nan visitant journey, and guarantee that some home and world markets find accrued and equitable echoes of their engagement successful nan region.

A Future Vision for African Tourism

Dr Muhammad’s comments get added salience arsenic Africa embarks upon a post-pandemic betterment amid intensifying world tourism competition. Evidence crossed sub-Saharan markets signals an ongoing transformation, underscoring that continued prioritisation of locally driven tourism infrastructure, prudent innovation, and cultivation of nan imaginative value-add is basal for sustaining nan continent’s comparative advantage. The entreaty for an unequivocal recommitment to an Africa-authored tourer narrative—imbued pinch condemnation and pride—seeks to recalibrate outer understandings, concurrently enhancing nan continent’s stature arsenic a pre-eminent and responsible recreation choice.

The Akwaaba African Travel Market, now successful its twenty-first year, remains a pivotal level for African tourism, stitching together a divers tapestry of location stakeholders. Speaking astatine nan caller gathering, Dr Muhammad commended nan marketplace for its sustained occurrence successful catalysing dialogue, strengthening networks, and forging enduring partnerships, phenomena he credited pinch relentless power complete nan continent’s long-range tourism strategy. Akwaaba functions simultaneously arsenic a commercialized fair, a forum for authorities Ministers and manufacture main executives, and a laboratory for civilian society–scholar collaboration, thereby cultivating a uniquely dense situation for nan speech of champion practices and innovation. The market’s twenty-first instalment served a twofold purpose: a reaffirmation of corporate resoluteness to prosecute maturation models rooted successful sustainability and a connection of strategical intent to recalibrate nan sector’s benefits to progressively divers communities.

Conclusion

Nigeria’s emerging domiciled arsenic an advocator for home tourism marks an inflexion constituent for nan full African recreation ecosystem. Through cautiously calibrated measures that foreground indigenous experiences, targeted infrastructure enhancement, and robust inter-regional partnerships, nan state is systematically fortifying nan continent’s tourism architecture against early shocks. By intentionally elevating Africa’s inherent assets—its divers taste patrimony, sweeping geographic assets, and vibrant section communities—the continent is positioned to recast internationally nan position of recreation and to consolidate its stature arsenic an basal hub for some commercialized and leisure itineraries. The Akwaaba African Travel Market, serving arsenic an accelerator for this corporate metamorphosis, will stay an indispensable level for mounting and sustaining nan strategical people of Africa’s tourism future.