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Lagos Sweeps Travellers Awards at Wonders of Nigeria Expo as Sanwo Olu Wins Governor of the Year

From L-R: Organiser Abuja Jabamah, Mr. Ikechi Uko, Ambassadors of Trinidad and Tobago, Ambassador Wendell Wendell Lago, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Princess Adedoyin-Ajayi; Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Pharm. Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf and Ambassador Esmond Reid of Jamaica

At the just concluded Abuja Jabamah, the Wonders of Nigeria Tourism Expo 2021, over the weekend in Abuja, the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu was recognised as the Tourism Governor of the Year 2020 and Best Governor of the Year.

Lagos State Commissioner of Tourism had her hands Full of Plaques at the just concluded Abuja Jabamah Wonders of Nigeria Expo. She had to invite the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Princess Adedoyin-Ajayi to help her hold the numerous awards won by Lagos State which included the prestigious tourism Governor of the Year Award, won by the State Governor.

It will be the second time Lagos State will be winning the Tourism Award in the last 15 Years.

Lagos State also carted home the awards for the Most Active Tourism State, the Best Beach Resort in Nigeria and Badagry as top tourism destination in Nigeria in 2020. Three (3) Badagry based practitioners won awards as Top Tourism Promoters of 2020.

Many Lagos based Tour Operators cleared almost all the Top Promoters awards. Also most of the Top100 Tourism Practitioners inducted into the Tourism 100 Club had Lagos well represented.

It was such a Lagos affair that when the Commissioner was on stage to make her presentation on Lagos, it was applause after applause from the audience. The organiser of the event Ambassador Ikechi Uko had to introduce her as a “Tourist Attraction” because of the numerous Selfies she was forced to take at the event.

After receiving the awards from the Ambassadors of Trinidad and Tobago Ambassador Wendell Wendell Lago and Ambassador Esmond Reid of Jamaica, she impressed the high quality audience with her presentation showcasing the beauty of Lagos.

Lagos State, she says values the private sector so much that the Governor has approved N1 Billion soft loan for stakeholders based in Lagos.

The Governor has promised more investment into many tourism projects. Lagos will host the Greater Lagos Festival and will partner private tourism events like Akwaaba African Travel Market and many Lagos Concerts. Lagos State she says is currently training young people in creative arts in partnership with DelYork Academy.

Lagos State mounted a mini exhibition manned by Mrs. Ada Oni and Frank Legusen at the Event.

The event organised by a Nigerian travel business consultant and travel promoter, Ikechi Uko, also included 2-day packaged training initiative for the attendees with the intention of using the platform for stakeholders in the travel and tourism sector to seek ways of collaborating with each other, as well as encourage travels within the country.

Receiving the awards on behalf of the State Governor and the State Government, the Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Pharm. Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf described the multiple awards as a challenge for the government to continue to pursue people-oriented policies in the tourism and entertainment sector.

She assured all Tourism enthusiasts to expect more from the State government as plans have already been completed to unveil several initiatives that will further boost the State’s tourism sector in the next few months.

According to her, the Ministry is already in the process of packaging some international standard documentaries that would further promote the rich tourism and cultural potentials of the State to both local and international tourists in an attempt to attract more visitors to the State.

On the training initiative, Akinbile-Yussuf informed that the State Government had identified training and retraining as an integral part of tourism activities, hence the sponsorship of some officials of the Ministry to participate in the training programme while also networking opportunity for the State.

The organizer of the annual event, Ikechi Uko had earlier said that Abuja Jabamah is usually held in November but due to the Covid19 lockdown last Year, it was moved to this time of the Year. It is the first physical tourism event in Nigeria this year.

Abuja Jabamah 2021, according to Uko, featured a 2-day Nigerian Tourism Specialist Certificate training for travel practitioners, the first of its kind in Nigeria with professional Tourism certificates issued to the participants at the end of the training by Naija7wonders and NIHOTOUR.

The participants which included some delegates from the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture and about 70 other Participants were trained on; Overview of Tourism & its Trends in Nigeria, Destination Management Concepts,
Packaging Tour Products for Export, Tour Guiding Principles, Festivals in Nigeria, National Parks in Nigeria, Museums in Nigeria, Understanding Nigeria’s Biodiversity, Philosophy and Strategies of Tourism Promotions among others.

Abuja Jabamah Wonders of Nigeria Expo is an annual Tourism Expo for the Promotion of Domestic Tourism in Nigeria since 2011. This year four Commissioners of Tourism from Delta, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Lagos States made presentations along with all the 7 National Parks in Nigeria, National Commission for Museums and Monuments, NCMM, NIHOTOUR and NCAC.

The Next Edition will hold March 2021 in Abuja.

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