The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has set a target of 10 million visitors from Nigeria in 2020.
This is according to Stella Fubara-Obinwa Director of International Operations, Dubai Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing while speaking during the Lagos leg of the 2020 Dubai Tourism West Africa Roadshow held at the Sheba Event Centre, Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Maryland, Lagos.
According to her, she will deem the roadshow a success if she is able to get at least 10 million visitors from Nigeria because Dubai has a lot to offer.
“At the end of the year, I want to hear that Nigeria has the highest growth number to Dubai because the country has so much to offer. Of the 200 million Nigerians it will be great to see 10 million Nigerians go to Dubai, which is all I need, just 10 million people. We hope that all of the travel agencies here have been able to meet with the different hotels, destination management companies, we hope that every travel agencies here have had the opportunity to sit at their tables and discuss packages for 2020 especially as this year is our Expo 2020, we hope that they will deliver really affordable packages for Nigerians who want to travel to Dubai” she said.
Speaking on the large turnout of stakeholders that thronged the venue, Fubara-Obinwa said this is a testament of the seriousness of the travel industry in Nigeria.
“This is our 4th trade show in Lagos, and coming on the heels of the Abuja and Port-Harcourt leg of the roadshow, our expectation was like between a hundred or two hundred participants, but when we opened registration, our expectation was surpassed. At a time I discovered that we had over nine hundred registrations and I panicked and asked that the website be shut down because we do not have the capacity to handle nine hundred participants. This is just a testament to how serious the travel agencies and travel industry in Nigeria are’ she said.
On his part, Mr Ikechi Uko, organiser of the biggest travel expo in West Africa, Akwaaba African Travel Market congratulated the Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing for a well-rounded event.
“500 trade delegates came calling at the Largest Travel Roadshow in Africa. They were in Accra on 24th February, Abuja on 26th, Port Harcourt on 28th and in Lagos. Congratulations to the DTCM and Partners for a successful event” he said.
The early part of the event was dedicated to networking as visitors went around the various booths meeting the fifty-plus vendors made up of hotels and hospitality service providers, destination marketing companies, tour operators, and others.
The event came to a fitting closure with a bumper giveaway coordinated by the DTCM, as several people in the audience won juicy giveaways, holiday packages and trips to Dubai with Seyi Adegbite winning the grand prize which comprises of a round trip ticket to Dubai from Emirates Airline, two nights stay at the prestigious Palazzo Versace Dubai and two tickets to the IMG Worlds of Adventure, the world’s largest indoor theme and amusement park in Dubai amongst other mouth-watering prizes.