Lagos Festival 2012
Even though Nigeria attracted the largest investment in hotel infrastructure on the African continent, ahead of South Africa and Kenya in 2011, the nation has yet to tap fully into her huge tourism potential, Ndiana Matthew, president, Palm3 Concepts, a leading Pan African strategic communications firm specialising in Southern and Western Africa emerging markets, has observed.
“Ironically, this potentially dynamic sector has not been successful in securing incentives for proposed investment,” Matthew said in a statement issued in Lagos at the weekend. “Funding through the financial sector still poses a daunting challenge as well as the management and new development of key tourism infrastructure around the sub region.”
To raise more awareness of the potential of the Nigerian tourism industry, Matthew, who was the immediate past Regional Director, West Africa for IC Publications, London-based publishers of New African, African Business, African Banker, said Palm3 Concepts in collaboration with Essential Interiors magazine, Nigeria’s premier interior design magazine, have concluded arrangements to bring stakeholders in the industry together to discuss the way forward. Former Governor of Cross River State, Dr. Donald Duke, and other leading stakeholders in the Nigerian tourism sector, he added, will on May 11, 2012, converge in Lagos, for the maiden edition of the Nigerian Tourism Investors’ Dinner. The theme for this year’s event is: ‘Towards increasing Tourism GDP: Infrastructure Funding and Management Opportunities.’
He said the forum, which will provide networking opportunities for senior tourism executives, industry leaders and financiers from around Nigeria and globally, will seek to address the identified challenges, proffer workable solutions and effectively stimulate public and private sector innovation towards increasing the sector’s contribution to domestic GDP.
He also said the event will feature the public presentation of a book entitled: ‘Luxury Hotels & Hotels of West Africa,’ by publisher of Essential Interiors, Titi Ogufere, while Duke will give a keynote address, with presentations by speakers of leading companies in the industry.
