Operators must be creative, unique in packaging tours—Egbuna, MD TBI
Operators must be creative, unique in packaging tours—Egbuna, MD TBI
Egbuna
made the disclosure at the 8th Annual General Meeting’s conference session of
the National Association of Nigeria Tour Operators in Ilorin, Kwara State with
the theme “Tourism as Catalyst for Progress, Peace and Partnership.”
Egbuna
said tour operators must be creative in packaging authentic and unique tour
packages, different from what tourists had been used to.
She
said as much as tours to historical and heritage sites were attractive enough
for tourists, unique packages around experiences could be developed to further
woo tourists.
“As
tour operators, you need to create authentic and creative experiences that are
unique to us. We can have packages around Danfo buses in Lagos.
“We
can have tours packaged around tourists coming to have an experience of Lagos
traffic, how to make Nigerian food, let’s stop selling just historical
attractions. We need to appreciate what we have.
“Stop
struggling with travel agents to sell tickets, they are meant to be buying tour
packages from you.
“Achieving
excellence is a goal, develop the right mindset to develop tourism. Let your
customers advocate for you,” she said.
Egbuna
advised the tour operators to always thirst after knowledge to improve on their
trade.
She
noted that to achieve tourism excellence and growth, the tour operators must
differentiate themselves from every other person.
“Always
be abreast of changes in the business of tour packaging. Be passionate about
what you do, love it and run with it.
“Let
your narrative about Nigeria be in the positive always,” she said.
Also,
Stella Fubara, Managing Director of Del-York Development Company, advised
Nigerian tour operators to further explore the power of the social media in
marketing the nation’s tourism assets.
She
said it was time the operators broadened their communication channels with
their clients in the process of marketing Nigeria as a choice tourist
destination.
According
to her, tour operators must take advantage of the recent discovery which
reveals that Nigeria is rated number one country with highest Facebook users.
She
added that Nigeria was also rated among the top five countries of internet
users and top five countries with the population of people that had more than
two cellphones.
“These
discoveries can be used to our advantage as tour operators, you need to broaden
your communication channels to market Nigeria.
“The
social media space is a vital tool for us all to explore to tell Nigeria’s
story. We should not allow the western world tell our story, we should tell
authentic stories to woo tourists.
“I
advise that you become intentional about tourism; it does not happen by
accident, it never happened by accident in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, we can be
intentional about transforming our marketing strategy.
“Also,
don’t be scared of healthy competition, it can improve you. We should project
more of the destinations we have through the social media to spur patronage,”
she said.
Fubara
advised against unhealthy competition, urging the tour operators to work on
collaborating with other practitioners in the industry.
“Certain
opportunities might not be for you but someone else, so learn to collaborate to
make attractive packages,” she said.
“The
western world loves what Africa has to offer. They want to come and experience
what we have but unfortunately we want to imitate them by replicating their
tourism offerings when Nigeria has the authentic tourism potential.
“Yam
pounding experience can be created to attract tourists when we will have
tourists trained on how to pound yam.
“More
of such attractive packages can be created to market Nigeria,” Fubara stressed.
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