FTAN urges govt to set up tourism fund

THE Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN) has called on the Federal Government to set upan intervention fund for the development of the tourism industry.The Vice-President of the association, Tomi Akingbogun, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagosthat the fund wouldsupport tourism operators totap the full potentials of the sector.'What we are asking government to do is to allocate fund to tourism operators just as it was done in the finance, aviation and other sectors of the economy.'These funds can then be accessed by those willing to develop the industry and with this, it can provide employment and government can generate a lot of revenue from it.'Tourism is a long term investment and if this fund is available, itcan be given at a lower interest rate to operators to enable them access itand build moretourist centresacross the country.'Akingbogun said that the fund could also be used to renovate existing tourism facilitiesin the country, andadvised the government to take a cue from Dubai and Kenya, where tourism is a major source of revenue.'It is time forgovernment to diversify the economy by developing other sectors such as tourism rather than operating an oil-based economy.'If you go to Dubai or Kenya, their main source of revenue is tourism and they are using it to develop their countries and their people.'He also urged the federal government to implement the master plan on the tourism industry to enable thegovernmentto regulate the sector in line withinternational standard.'The master plan had been drawn out, but government is yet to implement it. The implementationwould address a lot of problems facing the sector and ensure that the sector develop its potentials.'The master plan would also address the problem of many agencies doing the same thing, and it willput the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation on a better platform to control and regulate activities of operators in the sector,' he added.He said that the mandate of the association was toformulate policies and advisegovernments at all level on how to develop the tourism sector.
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