“There are fifty shapes of things to come and the rape of the continent will soon come to an end when Africans start to appreciate Africa.”
It is longer news that Steve Oluwaseyi Ayorinde turned fifty on the 9th of July and to celebrate this milestone in a cerebral yet convivial way, friends from across the African continent and beyond were invited to deliberate on how to close the gap between Africans in their minds and their lands. The virtual conference (that needed no visas) took place online with participants logging in to the discussion platform from the comfort of their homes. This new arrangement of sharing views and making news also allows each participant to see the set-up of where each is calling from. The chief host, Steve Ayorinde was in his study and conspicuous at the background was a framed picture of the God Father classic movie. This image spoke volumes. It was like the background was stamping into the consciousness of all that the celebration was for no other than an emerging God Father of culture reporting and cultural journalism as a whole. To his credit and as attested to by one of the participants, Steve has also played his role in film juries across the land. To Ms. Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, Steve, qualifies for the moniker of a ‘festival rat’ because of his ubiquity at different film festivals around the globe.
In total, there were ten speakers, two moderators, Olisa Adibua from Nigeria and Matlou Tostesi from South Africa, four highly placed Africans who presented goodwill messages and over 170 participants from different walks of life. The beauty of this particular webinar is that only those making presentations were in view just like the analogue arrangement of old where dignitaries are on a pedestal referred to as High Table were easily seen by all in the hall. The highlight of the event was not the arrangement but the flow of competing yet complementary ideas that flowed for the three hours non-stop of a conference without walls.
Once the tone was set and the presentations kicked off to a good start, it became obvious that the two big ideas at this webinar will be Nature tourism and cultural tourism. As it turned out both were not mutually exclusive they mutually reinforced each other. The proponents of the nature tourism (or what you may call responsible travel within affordable budget) were led by James Macgregor of Ecoplannet Start, based in Morocco and Ms. Ola Wright, the president of West African Tourism Organization, (WATO). In the shadows were people such as Dale Honeck, a Senior Counsellor, Trade in Services and Investment Division, World Trade Organization. Sibylle Riedmiller, an Earth Changer who established Chumbe Island Coral Park, the first Marine Protected Area in Tanzania and the first Private Marine Park in the world and a few others who formed part of the 170 participants.
The kernel of James Macgregor’s presentation was the painting of a post-COVID client. He spelt out the image of a confined and conscientious client who during the lock down has had ample time to reflect on various issues. The post-COVID clients at Hotels will have “deep concern for disease and vulnerability.” They will carefully choose Hotels that have proven records of low mortality rates in their country.
As if to buttress Macgregor’s points Ms. Ola Wright, said there are three main focus points in the West Africa sub-region; one is the ECOWAS regional tourism policy (ECOTOUR). Another she termed WAIT Project an acronym for West Africa Integrated Travels. The third is Shew Africa, which is an intra African Tourism development and promotions initiatives. Finally, Ecotour strategic areas. There is the need for reliable data and collective action objectives. Though she did not have enough time to go through all the slides she prepared, she contributed her opinion in the chat room where parallel discussions take place. “There is an African event that rotates across Africa, organised by the African Tourism Partners. I believe the organisation is in this forum” she wrote in reaction to what was going on at the main panel.
Next, to speak was Ikechi Ukoh, the President/founder of Akwaaba African Travel Market. Ukoh is also “the CEO of Jedidah Promotions (an international media and tourism marketing firm for airlines, hotels and destinations across Africa); project director of Seven Wonders of Nigeria (Naija7Wonders), and publisher of Africa Travel Quarterly Magazine”. A man with credentials such as that was expected to deliver a performance and he sure did. He was dressed for the part, and in the background of his location were posters promoting his Brand. His presentation was fast and furious, he had a lot of hot words for Africans. There are three things he wanted Africans to consider, the first is to “stop doing stupid things” the second follows logically “start doing smart things” and finally he wanted Africans to realize the obvious that “the whole world is in the same position” where COVID is concerned. Furthermore, he wanted Africa to access itself by way of travel and knowledge. He did not fail to preach to the choir that Tour operators must know what Africa has as resources and target those who want such products. In effect, he wanted the experts to identify the products and sell first to Africans. As his time was cruising to a halt he turned philosophical like a man who constant traveling has made wiser, he opined that what you don’t know you avoid. Africans should make efforts to learn about their neighbors and their culture. Simple as that may sound, on the surface the devil in the details were soon exposed by listeners across time zones.
The ink had hardly dried on the paper before comments from participants flooded the side chat box. Leading the cultural tourism group was Mrs. Belinda Nwosu, the Gambian married to a Nigerian. In her comment, she wrote “Dear Panelists in this Webinar. I hope we will clarify and understand that culture, Art, fashion, Nollywood, fine Arts can help to drive tourism. But our government and listeners should understand that these are just CONTENT for these industry. KEY DRIVERS/PLAYERS are policies, business friendly regulations, legal framework, Visas, leadership to have the appropriate idea & understanding of Hospitality and tourism to competently and strategically plan KEY “SMART” moves as Ikechi Ukoh said? and pragmatically create a WIN-WIN situation. If we have all these contents and no one can come in will we move an inch? Happy deliberation. Quick to follow up was Jahman Anikulapo, the former, highly respected, Editor of the Guardian on Sunday. As will be seen later Jahman was having a field day sending ideas and comments to the side box where a Stampede-like alternative webinar was happening. “Thank you, Belinda… Culture is the new WEALTH, even for Tourism, otherwise the hotels will only become “guest” rooms and the belly of the planes will become even hollow(er) in the age of pandemic.”
If ECOtours and cultural tours were the main acts of this talkfest, South Africa became the supporting act that gave a lot of participants concern. The next speak was not all out to defend his country but like a trained diplomat, Thekiso Rakolojane, lifted the spirits of all who had one unfortunate encounter or the other with obtaining visas to South Africa. Thekiso Rakolojane is the Regional Head-West Africa, South African Tourism. He started by singing the praises of Lagos Nigeria, “Nigeria has a lot of Arts and cultural initiatives that can be tapped into” he said with a smile on his face and that smile soon turned into a glee when he added that “Nigerian musicians trooped to South Africa to shoot their music video because of the beautiful scenery and conducive production environment.” He agreed that “the issue of visas is still a problem that needs to be solved. South Africa will make it easy for tourists to come into the country.” In fact, he disclosed that the South Africa Embassy has now increased the number of officers who process visas to South Africa from Lagos & Abuja. You can trust Nigerians that the issue of Nigerians shooting music videos in South Africa will not be left unchallenged. PAO threw the quick jab when she countered that Nigerian musicians did not need to travel to South Africa for scenic beauty. Nigeria has those in abundance she said.
When it was the turn of Belinda Nwosu, who introduced herself as a Hospitality developer and a veteran teacher. It was no surprise when she started her presentation with “until the Lion learns to write history, the hunter will always have a field day.” To her we (meaning Africans) have listened to others tell our stories for us. She observed that there is more outflow than inflow of tourism traffic and we need to talk about infrastructure. We need to create experiences for those who have chosen to come visit the continent. Her rhetorical question, “who is responsible for creating the experiences” was quickly answered “if not creative people” At some point during her presentation I noted that she was probably talking about the twining of Tourism and education. Her other concern was that there is a need to think of the whole before the self. Tour operators and policy makers should avoid “strangulatory” policies in the name of regulatory policies. She urged content developers to do their work. At around 8:42am (my time in Florida) she stated that “every sector represented here….and her system froze only to return close to when her allotted time was up. As it turned out there is no holding this woman down. When her time to speak was up she made up for it using the chat box to push her position on ideas.
If Music & tourism go hand in hand who among the panelist should be called upon to reflect on how Music can be one of the drivers to move tourism to the next level (if you will allow the cliché). How do you combine music & tourism? On hand was Munya Chanetsa, the Artist and Repertoire (A&R) Manager at Sony ATV Music Publishing South Africa.
It was the presentation of Munya Chanetsa from Zimbabwe that the audience got a little excited. This was not when he said “in unity there is strength but when he reiterated the fact that it is difficult to travel across Africa, that hidden textual daggers showed up. Sibylle Riedmiller, wrote “…and if you travel by road, you will have multiple road blocks everywhere of “police” who check your car and luggage and end up asking for bribes…” Belinda Nwosu added her two cents “now someone is saying my mind. Now We are talking about real issues like no appropriate Visas policies, no good road network transportation, infrastructure, hotels, no trust. Thumbs up Peace. Our gaps are not rocket science just fundamentals that can be address with the right leadership and mindset. We have all the cultural endowment and talents we need in Africa. We will get there.”
In another contribution Belinda made it known that “without this we move baby steps or no steps at all. Africa has more than enough cultural and tourism endowment, including a huge amount of talented people to drive all this content. Not all these initiatives require rocket science. We need proactive ACTION. Moreover, are hopeful after all these deliberations. Ms. Peace Anyiam-Osigwe thank you for your points and calling “a spade a spade”! Another calling a spade by its name came from Ms. Maimuna Manneh – Fye, who works in The Gambia’s Tourism and Culture Industry. She totally agreed with Ms.Belinda Nwosu that if there is anything to go by visa issues, easy mobility and funding should be a relevant way to start the process of closing the gap. To be certain that the visa issue is not just a case of one sub-region, Ms. Joan Nantege, from Uganda added her two cents “the Visa idea is so key. Am from Uganda and trust me, it took me two months to get a Visa to Lagos. Either they were not available or the prices kept changing.” If there is a gap to be closed, the participants from their comments appear to be saying it is the process of obtaining tourist visas to African countries by Africans and foreigners alike.
There was no visa needed because on my screen, Ms. Gisela Antman occupied the top hand left corner waiting to be unmuted to speak. A quick search on the Internet before she had the floor to speak informed me that she is a co-owner of Gerente do Hotel Villa Sands in Mozambique. She informed us that she was not calling from Maputo but Calling from a small Island off Mozambique. The reason for that small detail was to tell us that bridges close gaps. “Sustainability is important, .” she said and that there is the need to have the African brand.
The comments after her presentation did not come in torrents but the three women who made comments were definitely blown away by what she described. Belinda wrote “Gisela we definitely want to come to your Island. Your description sounds intrigue already. You gave great insights. We are convinced that in AFRICA we can no doubt.👏👏.” The second person, Sibylle Riedmiller, simply wanted to know, how much does it costs to stay at the hotel” Finally, Lynne Schmidt commended Gisela “great presentation from our neighbor on Mozambique Island, Gisela! Força para Ilha!”
How does a mere textual report do justice to an event in which no moment was ever boring. There were twists and turns. So let me return to Fiona Ngesa from Kenya. She is a Business Development Manager at the Kenya Tourism Board. Apart from her job on the Board, you savor her personal project focused on mentoring young tourism professionals and students as they embark on their careers in tourism. She believes in paying it forward and she does this a lot as a coach and mentor. The theme of the Tourism Stories Project is “where lighting the path for those behind” is not just a slogan but also a lamp that shapes her contributions.
Only a few of us who have traveled from Nairobi to Nakuru, and have stayed in Hotel Kuste, can understand the diversity of touristic resources Kenya has in store. Ms. Ngesa started her brief presentation by speaking straight to the heart of the matter, “we must sweat to make things happen” she says. The pregnant statement is a reference to the new times when “…we are all on the same level. This is not an African crisis nor a tourism crisis” she poses the question “what can we do post-COVID-19.” In response Ms. Ngesa affirms that “sustainability is key in African Tourism post Covid19.” Nearly all the panelists have shared their visions of how a new time has come upon us generally. Specifically she says “Kenya is known for Safaris but there is a lot more for visitors.” The struggle is not first for single themes nor for single focused teams; all sectors of the creative industry are needed to come into tourism to make it a dream for all. Another question she posed is how do you make Tourism affordable? It is possible to make it inclusive and affordable. This issue of attracting local traffic is not new, but what remains is to take it onto the center stage from the pages of Tourism Blue prints. Like a preacher on a pulpit, she urges that “we need to change our minds about Africa.” In effect, we must change African Tourism inside out.
Sibylle Riedmiller’s comment in the chat box captures the issue succinctly. “YES, but most governments have until now aimed at international TOP markets and heavily TAX the tourism sector, thus not easy to lower prices for budget markets. Most tourism companies cannot survive without SUBSIDIES from governments, which they do NOT get in most of Africa, unlike in the rest of the world….
Belinda, responded “it is about Mindset. We need to change our mind set. When we have value based products. The millions will spend that money when all expected fundamentals are put in place. Be sure.”
The back and forth was not going to stop as Sibylle had more to say “YES, Mindset has to come with MONEY TO SPEND, and this is in short supply for most people on the continent, most unfortunately, they need to survive first, especially also those who lost their jobs and income with the collapse of international tourism… “
At the very beginning of the webinar Ms. Angela Martins, the head of culture African Union gave a moving goodwill message. She works for a division “that harmonises and coordinates activities and policies across the continent, in order to build further structure and opportunities for using culture for integration and African renaissance, cultural development, promotion of creative and cultural industries. The Division works with the RECs, Member States and development to ensure the implementation of cultural policies that create jobs, promote the continent’s enormous resources and skills, and changes lives.” Her appearance more than fulfilled the stated mission.
At the tail end of the webinar, the Minister of Information, Culture & Tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made a presentation worthy of news from his office. In his goodwill message, he informed the virtual audience that the National Theater will soon be handed over to a committee of Bankers to repurpose, revamp, and reconstruct the edifice that has been crying for care. The details of how it will be done was sketchy as expected from a busy government official. Since the presentation was virtual, it was not possible to monitor reactions of the stakeholders present.
To draw the curtain on the webinar, Steve Ayorinde gave what stood as a vote of thanks. There was no on left out of his appreciation. This day he said has been the best day of his life and it is an ideal way to celebrate the beginning of a golden era. He confessed that there were plans at the beginning of the year but no one knew COVID was going to make a showing on the collective screen of life. The COVID nightmare has turned out to be a blessing in disguise. This goes to show that even the Corona virus is unable to keep Africa down. This webinar which was initially planned for two hours has gone on for three hours is evidence enough that COVID has been defeated! He ended with Viva Africa!
