By John Okeke
The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Alhaji Nura Kangiwa has said that without a strong training base, the country will never have a sustainable tourism development.
Kangiwa said this during a courtesy visit by the Culture, Art, Tourism and Entertainment Writers Association, (CATEWA), on Thursday in Abuja.
He emphasized that training and retraining is key in any society’s tourism and cultural administration.
“The entire lifeline of the cultural and tourism sector of the country lies on NIHOTOUR. That is on training and the training.
“We cannot ask others; those that market the tourism and cultural potentials of a country to go and sell the country or a destination without knowing how to sell it”, he said.
Explaining another dimension that NIHOTOUR will take for a sustainable tourism development, Kangiwa said “we will ensure standardized professional practices of personnel in the industry.”
He therefore called for the collaboration of the media professionals in bringing back the industry after worst hit by the pandemic.
“You are going to help us as we will work and put our heads together to help this industry. This is the most hit industry after the pandemic. We have to bring it back to life. There is need to exchange ideas, truthful information from time to time ” he said.
On his part, the Director, General Studies, Taiwo Famogbiyele, assured that the institute is ready to partner with the media, adding that with the activities of the DG, NIHOTOUR is going places.
Speaking at the event, the Chairman of CATEWA, Dr. Bridget Onoche who pledged support for the promotion of the tourism sector in the country further urged the institute to organize more trainings in the sector as there was a huge decline of hospitality professionals in the country.
