Former President of the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN), Mike Amachree has commended the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) for honouring outstanding individuals that have contributed to the growth of the industry during its 20th-anniversary celebration.
He said FTAN has done very well with the awards, according to him “It reminds me of how Rivers State Government, in 2017, gave awards to Nigerians who have made major contributions to the development of the state. I was among those honoured by Governor Nyesom Wike administration for my achievements in the area of tourism development and promotion in the state.
“The FTAN award is a recognition that will spur our tourism practitioners to source more tourists from Europe, America, Asia and Africa to Nigeria to boost domestic tourism.
“This will increase our foreign exchange earnings, boost domestic trade, industrialisation and provide employment for the masses.”
Amachree, also known as Nigeria’s ‘Father of Tourism’ also said “Tourism is the unrestricted movement of persons from one place, country and region to another for the purpose of education, medical attention, business and recreation.
“It is unrestricted in the sense that it is the highest revenue earner for most countries. For example, if you go to the American embassy and say you want to visit their country for the purpose of tourism, they give you a higher level of attention than other visa seekers.
“Tourism development and promotion business is entirely a private sector affair. The area where government comes in is to provide the enabling environment for the private sector to operate, to encourage the private operators in the form of providing land, finance and electricity.
“In the area of tourism financing, the private sector under my leadership in 1990 paid a courtesy visit to the former president, General Ibrahim Babangida at Aso-Rock to discuss the establishment of tourism development bank, which will provide low bank interest rate to operators. President Babangida approved the establishment of the Tourism Development Bank and instructed the Central Bank Nigeria (CBN) to take immediate action but the action was not completed until General Babangida left office.
“Furthermore, the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN) under my leadership collaborated with Plateau State government 1990 to organised the Plateau State Tourism Development Fund launching which was chaired by a former head of state, General Yakubu Gowon and launched by former President Ibrahim Babangida who invited all the state military governors to Plateau State to launch the fund.”
He said if this could be achieved in the 90’s FTAN could even do more now. He also called on the tourism bodies to unite for the industry, “FTAN and other tourism bodies should come together and initiate viable tourism programmes and I hope the government will support us.”