Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, has said that the tourism activities of the Ministry are deliberately structured towards positioning the State as a major destination in Africa, where the private sector can confidently invest its resources to advance the tourism and entertainment sectors.
The Commissioner made this disclosure at a press briefing organised to commemorate the second anniversary of Governor Sanwo-Olu in office, saying that the Tourism Master Plan will serve as a pathway for the implementation of every tourism activity in the State.
Akinbile-Yussuf added that the plan would change the narrative in the State’s tourism sector and ensure uniformity of government programmes, plans and policies in the development of tourism.
“There will now be a structured guideline that must be followed for the short, medium and long term tourism activities and projects. Apart from this, some areas of tourism activities that have not been given much attention are captured in the Master Plan to engender an all-round development of tourism in the coming years”, the Commissioner asserted.
She explained that more attention would be given to the development of the State’s Waterfront for tourism purposes as specified in the Beach and Leisure section of the Tourism Master Plan as well as the exploration of Medical tourism and focus on MICE (Meetings, incentives, Conferences and Exhibition), among others.
Her words: “We have equally identified the business side of entertainment and tourism. Beyond using tourism and entertainment as a vehicle for fun, relaxation and social integration, entertainment and tourism remain a major source of income generation for different countries and cities of the world and we will also leverage on this aspect to boost the State’s IGR”.
“We believe in creating an enduring atmosphere for tourism activities to thrive. It is our belief that when businesses operate under the right atmosphere, the economic activities of the State would increase and the resources at the disposal of government would also be impacted greatly”.
