I am currently on my way back to Nigeria and have some down time before my
next flight. So, I spent much of my time thinking about why Nigeria hasn’t been
able to crack the tourism industry. And by conundrum of course I mean why
tourists don’t want to come here. Did I hear someone yell out security in the
background? Lack of infrastructure? Corruption? Well if any OF you thought that
you’d be mistaken. Don’t get me wrong, I think all those things are
prerequisites for any destination that has hopes of being considered a valid
tourist destination. But, once you have all those things you still need a catch
for people to want to visit. For instance assuming that Nigeria got its act
together suddenly and all the aforementioned problems simply dissipated. Would
people suddenly want to come to Nigeria? I think not. So why the negativity you
might ask? Well, I don’t think Nigeria has done a good enough job of organizing
the travist product. Don’t worry if you don’t know what travist means, I just
coined it (traveler + tourist).
We spend so much time worrying about the massive problems that we often
overlook the simpler problems that create just as many, if not more,
bottlenecks than the supposed big issues. I recently drove myself to the
international airport in Abuja to pick up a loved one only to arrive and be
confronted with what can only be described as chaos. There was no parking, the
traffic was horrific because the authorities decided to block the main drop off
location all in the name of security. After finally being able to secure a
parking spot in the parking equivalent of Siberia I now trekked to the arrival
area to be there to meet said loved one. Well upon getting to the
terminal I was informed that I could not enter the arrival hall as it was only
meant for travelers.
Seriously? Despite heavy rain or glistening sun there is no provision for
non travelers at the airport. What the idiot powers that be fail to realize is,
the travel goes beyond just going TO the airport and getting on an
airplane. The travel experience is your loved one(s) walking to your gate
hugging you and wishing you safe travels, its having a duty free shopping area
where you can buy gifts and/or other travel necessities, it’s being able to
kill time in a somewhat comfortable environment drinking lattes before checking
in for our flight. What the travel experience isn’t, is getting soaked as
you walk to the terminal because there are no covered walkways or adequate
pedestrian access, it isn’t having to be asked to pay bribes to thieving
security agents, it isn’t have to sit in a waiting area with no AC. I could go
on for days about how the Nigerian travel experience is woeful. The bottom line
is the sooner we start to get our acts together the sooner we can realize the
untapped potential when it comes to tourism.
