The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Dr Abisoye Fagade, has called for the strategic repositioning of Nigeria’s tourism sector as a major driver of economic diversification, job creation and human capital development.
Fagade said Nigeria possessed the cultural heritage, natural attractions and human resources needed to build a globally competitive tourism industry, but stressed that the country must move beyond merely having tourism assets to developing the skills, infrastructure, institutions and coordination required to convert them into sustainable economic value.
He spoke in Abuja at a seminar on China’s tourism development experience organised by the Chinese Cultural Centre in partnership with NIHOTOUR and the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA).
According to Fagade, tourism has a critical role to play in advancing the economic objectives of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly its focus on employment, enterprise development, investment, human capital and diversification of the economy. “This seminar comes at a particularly significant time for Nigeria. Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, our nation is pursuing a new economic direction in which job creation, human capital development, enterprise, investment and diversification are central to building a stronger and more prosperous Nigeria. Tourism has a critical role to play in that vision,” he said.
Fagade, who recently participated in a tourism development programme in Beijing, said China had demonstrated how tourism could be deliberately deployed to promote economic development, rural revitalisation, cultural preservation, skills development and community prosperity.
He noted that Nigeria’s major challenge was not a shortage of tourism attractions, but its limited capacity to consistently transform those assets into economic opportunities. “Nigeria has the culture. Nigeria has the people. Nigeria has the destinations. What we now need is the capacity, coordination and commitment to turn these assets into prosperity,” he said.
The NIHOTOUR chief executive identified professionalism and skills development as critical to transforming the sector, noting that the NIHOTOUR Act provides an important institutional framework for developing professional standards and human capacity in hospitality and tourism.
“Our responsibility at NIHOTOUR is therefore not simply to train people. It is to help build the skilled workforce, professional culture and institutional capacity required to make tourism a serious contributor to the Nigerian economy,” he said.
Fagade also advocated deeper Nigeria-China cooperation in tourism, particularly in professional training, curriculum development, research, digital transformation, destination management, rural and cultural tourism and knowledge exchange.
He identified the China Association of Travel Services and the China Tourism Academy as potential partners for stronger institutional collaboration.
However, he cautioned Nigeria against copying China’s tourism model wholesale, stressing the need to adapt successful elements of the Chinese experience to the country’s unique social, cultural and economic realities. “China’s experience should not be copied mechanically. We should learn from what China has done, adapt the lessons to Nigeria’s realities, and build a uniquely Nigerian tourism model,” he said.
Also speaking, Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy, Yang Jianxing, said Nigeria and China possessed enormous tourism potential because of their rich histories, diverse cultures and abundant natural and cultural resources.
Yang described tourism as a bridge between nations and civilisations, saying stronger cooperation between both countries could deepen economic relations while promoting people-to-people understanding. “I believe that tourism not only creates jobs and fosters economic growth but also brings people from different countries closer together, enabling them to understand and appreciate one another,” he said.
He said China was ready to deepen cooperation with Nigeria in tourism talent development, vocational education, hotel management, eco-tourism, cultural heritage preservation, tourism digitalisation, destination marketing and business partnerships.
He added that China’s experience in public tourism services, destination development, smart tourism, market promotion and talent development offered opportunities for mutual learning.
Yang stressed that the objective was not to impose a Chinese model on Nigeria, but to promote two-way learning and practical cooperation that would benefit both countries.
The Director-General of the NTDA, Dr Ola Awakan, said China’s emergence as one of the world’s leading tourism destinations offered valuable lessons for Nigeria’s efforts to unlock the sector’s economic potential.
Awakan, who is currently in China on a working visit to engage tourism institutions and stakeholders, was represented at the seminar by the Director of Human Resources Management, Mr Oladipo Adekunle.
He said China had demonstrated that a well-developed tourism industry could contribute significantly to economic diversification, cultural diplomacy and sustainable development. “We therefore see this seminar not merely as an opportunity to share experiences, but as a platform to identify practical areas for enhanced cooperation, including tourism investment, capacity building, destination development, cultural exchanges, research, innovation and increased tourist flows between our two countries,” Awakan said.
He assured stakeholders that the NTDA would continue to pursue partnerships aimed at making Nigeria a more competitive, attractive and sustainable tourism destination.
The seminar ended with a call for Nigeria-China tourism relations to move beyond dialogue towards concrete cooperation in skills development, investment, digital innovation, destination development and increased tourist flows.
The consensus among participants was that Nigeria’s tourism challenge is no longer whether the country has sufficient attractions to support a thriving industry, but whether it can build the institutional capacity, infrastructure and skilled workforce needed to turn those assets into jobs, investment and sustained economic growth.
