The government’s fascination with running a mono-product economy has ensured that the country’s abundant natural and historical tourism products remain latent, and the country a fringe player in international tourism. Sadly, the tide of domestic tourism, which was blossoming, is ebbing fast due to the wave of insecurity nationwide. As tourists rarely go to unsafe sites no matter the attraction, the ripple effects of low-to-zero patronage are telling, BRIDGET CHIEDU ONOCHIE reports.

At the peak of the famous Argungu International Fishing and Cultural Festival, held yearly between February and March, Umaru Garuba, and his fellow transporters, who plied the Abuja-Kebbi route, had ‘bumper harvests’ for years.

According to him, the high volume of passengers for the four-day festival kept the drivers on the road day and night to provide service for those visiting from far and near.

“Those were the happy old days,” he recalled, adding: “The amount of money we made daily at that time cannot be made in two days today.”

The Argungu festival, one of the viable tourism products that contributed to the national economy, attracted more than 500,000 visitors yearly to the state from within and outside the country.

Within its four-day duration, businesses boomed, temporary and permanent employment were created, and the local populace, especially fishermen were empowered, while the local organising committee in a report stated that over 4,000 persons secured seasonal, or permanent jobs, while participants carted home prizes.

In addition to the enormous economic value that diverse inter-connected activities constituted, the standard of living in Argungu town and its environs received a lift albeit temporarily.

Indeed, it was its beauty and contributions to the socio-economic development of the state that led to its being listed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in 2016.

Unfortunately, the festival, which made it to the global tourism calendar, was suspended for about a decade over insecurity in the region. The latest edition was held in 2020 after a 10-year hiatus even as the present state government has disclosed plans to revive it as “insecurity is being mitigated in the state.”

Apart from the festival’s suspension due to security concerns, Garuba is equally saddened that the Matan Fada River, where the fishing contest took place for decades, has started to shrink due to an obstruction caused by construction work at Gurbin Manu. This, he alleged, has stopped the inflow of natural water into the river.

With the North ravaged by insurgency and banditry; ethnic nationalities violently agitating for a better deal in many geopolitical zones, and kidnapping-for-ransom now an industry nationwide, Garuba and a large army of service providers and local tour operators are the worst-hit in the tourism value chain.

But the fate that has befallen the Argungu has also befallen several other festivals, destinations, and attractions countrywide. Expectedly, key tourism operators, such as motorists, hoteliers, eateries, and host communities, suffer economic erosion.

The zeal and appetite of locals to visit these enchanting sites, beautiful landscapes, and cultural festivals also get eclipsed by safety concerns. Furthermore, while international tourists become increasingly sceptical and apprehensive about travelling to Nigeria, their domestic counterparts see no need to embark on journeys that do not guarantee a safe return.

Ultimately, with a reduction in tourist visits; attendant hotel closures; reduction in revenue, and apathy towards investment in the sector, the growth and sustainability of the tourism sector remain unassured until the security situation is addressed.

A former President of the Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN) and a renowned hotelier, Mr Ini Akpabio, lamented that the hospitality industry, which serves as a major revenue generator, has lost about 50 per cent of its clientele to the decrease in domestic travels.

“We run a 90-room hotel in Owerri (capital of Imo State). Before the era of banditry and violence, we routinely boast about 70 to 80 per cent occupancy in a month because Owerri was very busy. Now, we hardly get 30 to 35 per cent occupancy rate in a month.

“Most times, it is below this figure as people are afraid to travel by road to Owerri. Even when they come by air, they are still afraid of moving about. Insecurity has drastically reduced the client base of the hospitality industry – hotels, restaurants, lounges, and bars.

“It also affects consumption including food and beverages, and generally, low patronage has led to loss of jobs in the industry,” Akpabio said.

He added that although insecurity began in the North, most states in the South have also been traumatised by the plague.

“It started by affecting movements within the country known as domestic tourism. The inability of people to travel within their country where they don’t require visas or problems associated with air travel is a very negative impact of insecurity. The first blow comes to the domestic tourism sector, and that has a lot to do with finances associated with our industry. You can imagine people not being able to travel for meetings and seminars.

“You can also imagine the effect on the Nigerian economy where 90 per cent of hotel accommodations are business, corporate, and official accommodation requirements. So, insecurity has greatly affected the industry.”

Although Nigeria has not fared well in international tourism, Akpabio said that the consistent kidnap of foreigners has stalled the little progress made in the past, making most international activities diverted to other African nations.

“As regards international tourism, that was not much felt even before the problem of insecurity because Nigeria was not generally seen in Africa as a tourist destination. Rather, we have a lot of businesspeople coming from outside Nigeria, who want to do business in the oil, financial, and other sectors.

“But their numbers have kept dwindling. There was a time when Americans and Europeans were kidnapped in the country, and over time, only a few of them were found in the country. You see more Asians.

“To a large extent, this development has affected international events being held in Nigeria as that window was closed and a lot of activities on the continent of Africa were moved from Nigeria to either Ghana or other African countries. That is the effect of insecurity as it applies to tourism in Nigeria.”

The Executive Director of the African Travel Commission, Lucky George, also confirmed that insecurity has affected the travel and tourism industry more than any other sector of the economy.

He regretted that nearly all beautiful sites and destinations across the six geo-political zones have been abandoned to rot as people no longer travel there for fear of being kidnapped or killed by terrorists.

According to him, the travel and tourism industry has lost about 30 to 35 per cent of its source of revenue to insecurity, adding that “the loss is huge because people cannot travel the way that they used to travel in the past. People cannot go to places they want to visit. So, it is a huge loss to the local councils, the villages, and people, who should be benefiting financially by selling items and providing local food and other services to tourists in those locations.

“Nigeria is not a major leisure destination, but a business destination. Therefore, you cannot equate it with South Africa, The Gambia, or Kenya where the entire industry relies on international visitors. Nigeria receives less than two per cent of international visitors on an annual basis. So, most of the travels that happen internally in Nigeria are domestic travels. The more people travel, the more money that would have been circulating in the system, but unfortunately, a lot of people no longer travel because of insecurity.”

With the Nigerian tourism industry constituting 95 per cent of domestic activities, George said that a reduction in domestic travel leaves most of the locations struggling to survive “because they don’t have enough patronage to generate revenue that will keep them in business.”

He added: “The same way, Obudu Cattle Ranch has suffered significantly because of the high cost of going there. You have to fly to Calabar before continuing by road, and you probably have to spend half a million naira to do that as a single person because your return ticket alone will be about N200,000 or a little less. So, why should one travel to Obudu at such a cost? They will prefer to travel to Kenya at the same cost and still get value for their money.

“In the South-East, Christmas and Easter celebrations used to create business opportunities for hotels, restaurants, and transport companies, which are all part of the tourism industry. Unfortunately, people travel less these days and investors in these areas are disappointed.

“When hotels and restaurants close down, farmers are also affected because 35 per cent of agricultural produce is consumed by the hospitality industry. Automatically, when people are not patronising hotels because of their inability to travel, it also hurts agriculture.”

George also expressed worries that government agencies saddled with the responsibility of promoting and marketing Nigeria have not lived up to expectations.

Similarly, he frowned at the separation of the ministries of culture and tourism, stressing that both ought to work together since cultural properties are used as part of tourism products.

“If the two of them don’t agree to work together, the tourism industry will suffer. The cultural industry will also suffer because they need patronage from tourists to remain afloat. So, if these two don’t work as a team, it would be disastrous, which unfortunately, is unfolding already,” he said

While efforts are made to curtail insecurity, George called for a review of the Tourism Master Plan due to certain changes, including the Supreme Court judgment that put tourism assets and management in the hands of the states.

“Therefore, the Federal Government’s involvement in tourism has to do with marketing and promotion because states and local governments are now solely in charge of what goes on at the state levels except in the Federal Capital Territory.