Edo State Commissioner for Arts, Culture, Tourism and Diaspora Affairs, Hon. Osazee Osemwingie-Ero has said Edo State’s hosting of the 2019 National Festival for Arts and Culture (NAFEST) will leverage tourism’s job creation potentials to empower Edo youths.
The commissioner said this while addressing journalists at an event held to celebrate the World Tourism Day in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
Osemwingie-Ero noted that Edo State is putting finishing touches to preparations for the 2019 NAFEST, which promises to be an enthralling cultural festival.
He said the governments of Edo and Delta States will continue to work in synergy to empower more youths and women through tourism, adding, “For us in Edo, we are reawakening our culture; we are exploiting our tourism potentials. With Edo State hosting the 2019 NAFEST themed: ‘Our culture, Our Pride’, we expect tourists from Nigeria’s 36 states and Abuja as well as other neighbouring countries, who will be in Benin City from October 21 to 26.”
The commissioner assured that the Obaseki-led administration is working round-the-clock to make the event exciting and one of the best ever organised in the country.
Earlier, Delta State Governor represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Chiedu Ebie, said the commemoration was timely, as global tourism has experienced a revolution in the last couple of years.
Director-General, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, Folorunso Coker, said over one million people have gained direct employment in the country’s tourism sector while many others are benefiting indirectly in the service sector.
He noted, “Tourism is increasingly seen as an important tool in promoting economic growth, alleviating poverty and advancing global unity. The sector accounts for approximately 55 percent of the service sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, UNWTO.”
He added that the importance of tourism has been recognised in both developing and developed countries with widespread optimism on the potentials of the sector to drive economic and social change, noting “Tourism contributes significantly to the balance of payments and employs over one million people in direct employment and many more in indirect employment.
“The tourism sector offers developing countries the possibility as well as the potential to diversify their exports. The ability of the industry to generate new employment opportunities especially skilled and unskilled jobs make the sector a critical component in the development agenda of any government.”
