World Tourism Day (WTD) is an international event hosted yearly by United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to create awareness within the local/International community of the importance of tourism values. This year’s theme is “SUSTAINABLE TOURISM – A TOOL FOR DEVELOPMENT”. This year UNWTO launched a consumer-oriented campaign aimed at raising awareness of the essence of Sustainable tourism and how it contributes towards development. The Travel.Enjoy.Respect campaign aims at engaging tourist all over the world to make the tourism sector a catalyst for positive change and development.
As a result of the rapid and positive growth in the Nigerian Tourism Industry, my company, Nene-Uwa Hub Ltd has teamed up with some tourism enthusiasts to put together a platform to celebrate Nigeria’s version of the World Tourism Day.
The objectives for celebrating World Tourism Day Nigeria are to ensure the following:
- Foster awareness among the local and international community of the IMPORTANCE OF TOURISM and its social, cultural, political and economic values.
- Create awareness and promote Nigerian attractions by highlighting values to be derived from INVESTING IN LOCAL TOURISM.
- Create awareness on the essence and benefits of applying Sustainable practices which would encourage tourists to be better RESPONSIBLE TRAVELLERS thereby promoting SUSTAINABLE TOURISM.
On Saturday 30th September, 2017, we would be hosting a volunteer BEACH CLEAN-UP & TREE PLANTING holding at the “POINT OF NO RETURN” located at Badagry Slave Trade, Badagry, Lagos State. The idea is to create awareness on the benefits of being ECO-FRIENDLY by being a RESPONSIBLE TRAVELER. That means being a tourist that helps to sustain tourist destinations by reducing environmental impact by being guardians of our natural resources. As one of Nigeria’s prominent tourism landmarks, this beach is the ideal location to carry out a campaign for Sustainable Tourism. The shoreline is eroding quickly and the white-sand beach is littered with trash from visitors as well as wash-back from the ocean. On the day of the event, we have plans for 40 tourism and environmental enthusiasts to join Badagry local residents to clean up the beach. We would also be planting coconut trees along the shoreline as a way of leaving our footprint of impact.
We are also hosting a PHOTO CONTEST where participants would be required to send photos taken of them at a Nigerian tourist site they have visited with a caption story of less than 50 words on how they can be a better RESPONSIBLE TRAVELLER. This is to create awareness about the various beautiful tourist destinations in Nigeria, thereby encouraging Domestic Tourism. This contest would run on Nene-Uwa Instagram platform using special hashtags for easy tracking. The three (3) pictures with the highest number of likes would win prizes from our various sponsors. The winners would be announced on World Tourism Day which holds on Wednesday 27th September, 2017.
I am really looking forward to these events and I cannot wait to share our experience with you. For more information on what we have been doing towards celebrating World Tourism Day, do follow us on both Instagram and Twitter