Hello nairalanders,
A friend of mine is thinking of picking a career in tourism & hospitality by going for its masters abroad.
Pls, how viable is this career in nigeria? In which companies can one work?

most likely he'd have to setup his own and maybe start by organising and packaging tours.

dont get it.

What arent we maintaining in travel and tourism? Our beaches, parks or airports abi?

Was looking at him packaging getaways for Nigerians who want to tour the world.

Nothing wrong with him starting his own themed park and maintaining it well though.

ok. I get it now.

So, did u run or walk into d car?

@Topic,
Actually there are lots and lots of hotels, travel agents, and hospitality/care businesses in Nigeria. So, why not? He'd earn a decent living, and he can learn a lot and add to the local scene. Let's encourage these things in Nigeria.

, know there r lots of existing players. Just wondered how much they'd pay someone with msc cantab vs how much he'd make if he brought his exposure into doing his own thing ,

yamakuza:

, know there r lots of existing players. Just wondered how much they'd pay someone with msc cantab vs how much he'd make if he brought his exposure into doing his own thing ,

Therein lies the problem

Why do you need to go to Cambridge to study hotel and tourism worreva?

Naija sha

Hobbled. Then wobbled, i guess. Simply hilarious!

Methinks he really wants to travel, and that course is an easy ticket for him.

Personally, i would have gone for something like international trade, intl biz or even intl relations, then taken a short course or diploma in tourism mgt instead.

Its now left for an msc holder in tourism and hospitality mgt on this forum to make us see if theres anything we r missing.

iice:

Don't think he has to study abroad. What is important if you're gonna do your own thing is research, research. Combine and experiment. . .above all be passionate. Not just passionate for the 'money' you'll get out of it.[/color]

we are Nigerians.
Why else would we be in it? For the money, of course!
What planet are you from, with all this research, combine, experiment thang?

I completely agree with yamakuza, he/she wanted to be out of Nija and this course simply gave him a free ticket!! Mind you, if he/she is in the US, then the sky is the starting point for this fellow. He has a very high prospect in places like Florida, Las Vegas, North Carolina, Atlantic City etc, etc, besides the tourism part, he can also venture in to the Hospitality as all the major Hotel Brands in the world has their headquarters in America , The Marriots, Starwoods etc etc, also, there are quite a lot of Hotel management businesses (owned by Indians) in the US. This fellow, God willing may one day set up his own Hotel management business and voila, he/she is made, trust me!!!

@portage
the OP asked for opportunities in naija. Think he wants to return after. Know of any?

Maybe he might consider your option as plan b sha.

@phemmy
vision 30what is that? Hope not under Fashola's presidency?

Even with all that, what is our competitive advantage compared to the pyramids of Egypt, Kenyan safari, SA safari, Seychelles, Gambia or even Ghana?

[s]Na barbeach dem never see before, abi monkey no dey yankee? We get giraffe for naija sef?[/s]

Lolz.

@iice
No trouble, wont squabble.

Lolz.

The choice of course is simply to give him more options, should he decide to switch careers midstream.

There is always opportunity in whatever one decides to do in life, so you have to be focused and go for the knowledge first cos opportunity must come

Fhemmmy:

It is all about the presentation.
Nigeria can make so much money from Tourism.
However, we will first have to learn to be creative and think out of the box.

With regards to our competitive advantage, all i can say is that we need to first appreciate our environment and think of what we can make out of it. Naturally, what we have in Nigeria ca not be compared in any way with say what Kenya, Congo, Uganda has! Yet still, we have our own unique natural attractions that has been left untapped/underdeveloped over the years.
If you travel to such places like cross Rivers state, i can bet you that there's a lot to showcase the world in that small state.

And if Nigeria as a country does not want to go the route of natural attractions, we can take advantage of Man made attractions. We can create our own Las Vegas (where anything goes ) in the middle of nowhere and make good money out of it. But first, we citizens and the Government need to make sure that the Boko Haram people will not go around and bomb the place at will

Tourism Development is strictly in stages of which i do not think Nigeria is ready for that yet. So in simple terms, i would advise the poster not to rely on coming back to make money or develop the industry. "A tree can not make a forest" that is what they say,

A simple literature search online will tell you that there's little (about 13 Journal articles. Not even peer reviewed) online referencing Nigeria's tourism potential. Yes, we may have the potentials, but we are lacking in the area of a Visionary leader and even the communities that are bound to enjoy and live with the benefits of tourism are not even interested in it in the first place!

It is even a shame as country not to have a functioning website for our tourism!     http://www.tourism.gov.ng/
The page is poorly managed, the links to other pages are not even working! So, how do we even get people to be interested in the first place when we can not even present what we have on offer in a way that will make people want to buy in to it? The Nigerian Tourism Board has a permanent secretary that does not even have a single clue as to what tourism is all about To the man Runsewe (Head), Tourism board is just another money making venture for him and his immediate family. If you ask him a simple question on what vision he has-i can bet you that this man can not say much. All he and his cronnies are intereted in is to represent Nigeria in conferences outside and collect estacode!

We can continue to argue that there is money to be made in the sector as far as Nigeria is concerned. But first, i think we need to address issues such as

1. Leadership (in the form of visionary leader)
2. Clear Governmental policies on Tourism
3. Security Issues in Nigeria
4, Activity expansion and a form of vertical integration branding (to boost the drawing power of the destinations). In essence, huge investment in cluster of attractions

I just have to quickly type this contribution and my sincere apologies if i jumped from one issue to the other. I am at work

@phemmy
maybe after oil finishes

@portage
impressive. Try come and run things

@ portage -  you've  hit the nail on the head.  We can't compete with East African tourism, much less Ghanaian and Gambian tourism on our doorstep.

After all the touting about tourism I heard last year, I concluded that tourism in Nigeria is what it is in Japan - designed for locals and outsiders are incidental.  For example, I remember all the propaganda I heard about the Lagos carnival and Rivers carnival.  Ask the question, how many tourists visited these places?  They don't know.   Ask how much they spend and how much they made?  They can't tell you.  One journalist said (forgotten if it was on Channels or TVC)  that if any offical can quote figures to you they are lying because no such figures exist.

Yet these events were designed for "tourists" and to encourage "tourism".   We have a Ministry of Tourism and if you check their website, it's nothing to write home about.  I cannot tell you what they do, it probably consists of about 5 people making a lot of money doing nothing in particular.

Your best bet if you want to be a tourist in Nigeria is to get a guide book (most likely written by Oyinbos) which tend to tell you a lot more.  I laughed when in one book the author said they went to visit x place, and were given leaflets written in the 70s.  Sadly tourism is stuck in the 1970s rut.

Some people are prepared to do without the mod cons if it will allow them to experience the country.  Problem is in this country, apart from decaying and poorly maintained infrastructure, we are rarely well organised.  Nigeria may want the money that comes from tourism but we are far from ready for it.  Those who do choose to travel to Nigeria do so on their own steam, or through family and/or friends.

@ popekay, if you want to learn about tourism and are genuinely interested in it rather than just seeing it as a money making venture, I suggest you go spend some time in countries that cater for it - you will learn a lot.  When you come back to Nigeria you can adapt to suit the local market.

@n1
how much of a cashcow is it for Japan as described?

End.

Methinks spiritual tourism sells in naija. Synagogue, osunfest, eyofest.

Would have suggested sports tourism as a niche attraction, but someone recently asked on NL what happened to Glo half marathon?

Was looking at the likes of tennis, golf, cycling or F1 but for a country that couldnt afford to host FIFA U17 without state govts, maybe boxing might be a cheaper alternative?

Most of these sports have gambling and bookmaking undercurrents sha, so all join.

At the end of the day, it might be achievable on a state by state level sha, as a form of IGR vs national spearheading or policies.

@Popekay, Phemmie, Yamakuza, iice and N1O1,

Great Input from you guys. It is my sincere hope that we can really develop this industry and i stated earlier i think the real issue has to do with leadership. If you go on you tube  and listen to what the MD of Tinapa has to say about this free trade zone for example, you will be ashamed .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkzCiTQfQ_k

Yes, the Govt of Donald Duke or whoever invested in such projects as the Tinapa, yet the place is not even performing! How do we expect it to perform when the MD of Tinapa can not even discuss the strategies he has in place to make sure that even the locals (Nigerians) visit .  Yes, Nigerians travel to go shop in Dubai, London, New-York and other places, the question is what are you doing as MD to make sure that people will rather shop in our own backyard since they can get all these designer labels at your trade zone? There's a proverb in Yoruba that says "alagemo ti bi omo e tan, aimo jo ku si owo iya omo" In my opinion, i think the MD is just there doing almost nothing, you should also listen to Liyel Imoke on the same video according to The Gov. on CNN interview " government are not the best managers" but my question is this- you should at least manage/formulate policies!!! in line to what Cross River stands for in terms of Tourism. I mean, what move has the Gov. made to save tourism? is anybody in the Cross River house of Assembly even interested in Tourism?? We need to get ourselves interested first. We need to be passionate and take pride in what we have on offer. Without simple things such as these, it will be hard for Nigerian Tourism to really compete let alone market it.

I beg to digress a bit here, look at lagos state and what the Gov. is doing there! Yes. Fashola is simply doing what is expected of him so we shouldn't sing his praises to high heavens, but the point again is, lagos is only fortunate to have a leader with vision and i hope by the time he leaves office, sombody with a similar mind will take over and continue or otherwise, what fasola has been able to achieve in 8 years will just the Nigerian way

In my opinion, i think Cross River (CR) is a place to start/continue to promote the tourism potential in Nigeria. After all, Baltimore Inner Habor renaissance (in the USA) did not just start in one day and Disney land in Orlando,FL (US) did not just get to where they are just by accident.

Cross River is already close to the atlantic/sea, structures have been put in place to a reasonable extent (Tinapa, Obudu mountains, unique cultures in this part of Nigeria,waterfalls, very rare specie of monkey/baboon in the mountains, historical sites such as the role CRiver played in the slave trade, etc, etc) All it needs is probably strategies to attract/re-brand things as we want. I think if Cross River can market itself well, people even in naija will want to travel there for vacation. At this point, we really need to attract outsiders, we need to patronize the destination ourselves.
The marketing campaign will start of course from things such as the Airport in Calabar we should try and make it look at least like MMA2 in lagos .

In essence, there's a lot that can be done to Cross River state in terms of Tourism!!

Peace out

@ Yamakuza,

Spiritual Tourism ke??

In fact, i never thot of that It might sell, may be only to Africans sha and i think it is already selling, check out TB Josua synagogue and you will find all manner of White people vomiting all sorts there live

Me thinks we should start with ecotourism in the southern part of the country sha

portage:

@ Yamakuza,

Spiritual Tourism ke??

In fact, i never thot of that It might sell, may be only to Africans sha and i think it is already selling, check out TB Josua synagogue and you will find all manner of White people vomiting all sorts there live

Me thinks we should start with ecotourism in the southern part of the country sha

Spiritual tourism is popular in India and Tibet/Nepal. So many celebrities looking for their groove, and how to eat/pray/love

@op
But i thought dis dayz in 9ja u dont have 2 work based on what u studied in skool.

@OP Bright Idea!!
We have many potholes gullies that will make the outside world marvel.
I bet they have never had a risky okada ride in their lives before
When you are ready contact me.

It would be a nice thing to start. It is an industry that is really making waves abroad. People need to be able to relax and go on vacation with their family without having to break the bank. But with the economic factor in this country, how many families can really afford it? It would be abit on the high side if your friend wants to maintain standard and quality and all this cost money. No one goes into any business for charity even the charity organizations are using that as a front to get money from sponsors. I wish him/she all the best.

Every day my prayer is that the oil and gas well should dry up so we can really develop with our handwork and not with rent collection from oil proceeds. I was in Erin Ijesha Waterfalls in Osun State one time, come and see the wasted opportunities begging for attention, many countries with waterfalls develop the site eg. Niagara falls in US, Yosemite fall-US, Victoria falls In Kenya, Angels falls in Venezuela etc.

Yinkay:

Every day my prayer is that the oil and gas well should dry up so we can really develop with our handwork and not with rent collection from oil proceeds. I was in Erin Ijesha Waterfalls in Osun State one time, come and see the wasted opportunities begging for attention, many countries with waterfalls develop the site eg. Niagara falls in US, Yosemite fall-US, Victoria falls In Kenya, Angels falls in Venezuela etc.

Hmmmm dont know if you talking about some other Niagara falls which I think possibly exists but when you group it with Vic Fall etc, then Im sure you are referring to the popular one in Ontario, CANADA. and Vic Fall is not in Kenya. It's in Zimbabwe (well it kinda lies between Zim and Zambia (Zambesi River) but most people usually talk about Zim when they refer to the Victoria Falls.