December 21, (THEWILL) – The wife of the Cross River State governor, Rev Eyoanwan Bassey Otu, wants the Efik Culture and hospitality captured in the State’s tourism activities.
Rev. Otu disclosed this in a lead paper she presented during the 2nd Cross River State Tourism Roundtable, which had a theme: Light Up Cross River With The Spirit of Hospitality.
The round table was organised by the State Chapter of the Institute Of Tourism Professionals of Nigeria, ITPN.
Rev. Otu, whose address was presented by Ntufam Professor Raphael Offiong, said beyond the carnival, the culture should be a day-to-day thing and put in the trajectory of tourism development in the state.
“Efik Culture and hospitality has not been properly captured and positioned where it ought to be in the tourism industry here.
“There is so much about Efik hospitality from food, marriages, entertainment, and performances.
“How much have we been able to capture this, except during carnival or Christmas or Easter season?
“Beyond putting up these things now, we should be able to make it a day-to-day thing, we should have designated places where even we, who are here can move in and enjoy this hospitality”, Rev. Otu said.
In his keynote address, the President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria, Nkereuwem Onung, commended the state government for efforts to revive the sector and the quality of persons appointed.
The FTAN president said the state had a well-laid foundation for tourism development with the Tourism Bureau but said Arts and Culture be added as a directorate with a DG to drive the vision of the ministry.
“Cross River State already has a deep-seated tourism bureau.
“Let’s add the Arts and Culture as a directorate with a DG which will run the vision of the ministry.
“Let them report to the commissioner so that policies will be aligned, statistics will be brought out and possible to access the KPI”, he said.
He said this will ensure there is continuity in the sector, saying, the state has done well in six months and we can see the difference.
Also speaking, Abubakar Ewa, the State Commissioner of Tourism, who spoke through Dan Akeke, said the government is poised to return to tourism as a pivot for the socio-economic development of the state.
In his address, the Managing Director of the Cross River State Tourism Bureau, Prince Ojoi Ekpenyong, said the gathering shows that there is hope for the sector.
He added that actions speak louder than words and the present administration hit the ground running and has been creating the enabling environment for the sector to thrive.
Also speaking, the State Chairman of ITPN, Professor Bassey Esu, said hospitality is the spirit of a destination which is made up of tourism, facilities, communities and manpower.
He added that every experience point needs an emotional encounter with the service provider who should not just casually deliver service.
He said as the theme suggests, the service providers must have the tourist at heart right from the development stage to the point of delivering and even after service.
He said the ITPN in the state hopes to boost the efforts of stakeholders to sustain the gains of tourism and redefine the kind of destination we hope to build shortly.
About the Author
THEWILL Correspondent, Aniekan Bassey has over six years experience that spans across several fields in print journalism including development communication, sexual reproductive and health rights issues, crime, climate change, social justice, business and human interest stories.
