Nigeria and The Global Tourism Opportunity

Global travel is longer the exclusive preserve of the rich. Harvard Business Review in one of their recent editions revealed that ‘over the next decades, hundreds of millions of new entrants to the middle class will want not only the things- but also the experiences- that money can buy.’ Also, the sprouting forth of Nigeria’s middle-class in key cities has given credence to this fact, as investors are keen about this expanding group.

It is projected that international tourists will double, moving from 800million to 1.6billion, this represent an amazing opportunity every nation should key into or position herself to reap from this coming harvest. For this opportunity, it is expected that demand will outstrip supply in the coming years and the possibilities of a gray market appearing any time soon cannot be discounted.

Smart government are already taking interest in managing this coming demand by way off imposing heavy surcharges on travel to the most popular places, rationing. And also, creatively companies and government are creating facsimiles of popular destinations like the The Eiffel Towel which can be seen in Las Vegas.

A billion tourists represent both a massive potential headache and opportunity for business. The question that keeps popping up in our heads is, ‘what is government doing about this?’ The fear is we might just not do anything. Nigeria is strategically placed and offers some of the world’s amazing nature’s heritage.

We understanding what impact tourism can have on our economy if given the right policy touch. We ask that the relevant authorities look critical at this emerging opportunity and put the nation on the right pedestal to reaping heavy from this opportunity. We only need to look at what other countries are doing regarding this and so take the needed initiative to make tourism work for us.