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Problems And Prospect For The Development Of Tourism
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Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2010, there
were over 940 million international tourist arrivals, with a growth of
6.6% as compared to 2009. International tourism receipts grew to US$919
billion (euro 693 billion) in 2010, corresponding to an increase in real
terms of 4.7%. As a result of the late-2000s recession, international
travel demand suffered a strong slowdown beginning in June 2008, with
growth in international tourism arrivals worldwide falling to 2% during
the boreal summer months. This negative trend intensified during 2009,
exacerbated in some countries due to the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza
virus, resulting in a worldwide decline of 4% in 2009 to 880 million
international tourists’ arrivals, and an estimated 6% decline in
international tourism receipts.
We have witnessed an exponential
growth in global tourism over the past half century. 25 million
international visitors in 1950 grew to an estimated 650 million people
by the year 2000. Several factors have contributed to this rise in
consumer demand in recent decades. This includes an increase in the
standard of living in the developed countries, greater allowances for
holiday entitlements and declining costs of travel. Tourism is an
important export for a large number of developing countries, and the
principal export for about a third of these. The business sectors
comprising the tourism industry include: transportation, accommodations,
eating and drinking establishments, shops, entertainment venues,
activity facilities, and a variety of hospitality.
⦠BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY:
The
desire to develop the Nigerian tourism and hospitality sector to a
regionally competitive level by the Federal and other similarly
persuaded states, like Adamawa, has been a major policy towards which
steps are being taken, with differing degrees of commitment and
directional clarity. The passion towards the realisation of tourism
advancement in this respect is premised upon the anticipated benefits of
the sector to Nigeria; two of which are clearly evident. First, tourism
promises to widen the utilitarian value as well as enhance the
effective demand made on the abundant natural and cultural assets that
are presently underutilised, given the expansion in the streams of
tourists that would be attracted by them. Second, tourism being a
labour-intensive sector offers a great potential to address much of
Nigeria’s present and future employment challenges, given the size of
her population and expected future growth.
It is in this context,
that the Nigerian government commissioned its Tourism Master Plan for
the development of Tourism in Nigeria in 2006 (The Nigeria Tourism
Master Plan (2006)). Among others, that Tourism Master Plan (TMP)
observed a number of critical challenges facing tourism development that
must be addressed with varying degrees of urgency. One of such problems
was the poor level of domestic propensity for local destination
patronage, as well as the marginal knowledge of the worth of the
Nigerian tourism market internationally.
Since the publicity of this
Master Plan, governments have taken a number of steps to address its
recommendations. The nature of responses and the degree of their
intensity have varied. Essentially, responses on infrastructure
provision and overhaul, as well as on national image-rebranding and
marketing overseas have received much attention. In spite of all the
efforts so far, the need as well as the strategy to influence the
population towards a tourism-oriented leisure consumption habit locally,
is yet to be seriously addressed.
Specifically, government must
encourage the culture of visits to tourist sites by the different
identifiable socio-demographic groups into which its population may be
sub-divided.
Ability to determine, at a later date, the degree of
success achieved by governments in this regard, requires the acquisition
of some essential data by relevant agencies of the government. A major
component of such data would be statistics depicting the state of
awareness as well as the existing pattern of visits to recreation and
tourists sites by identifiable segments of its population prior to
intervention.
Adamawa was created out of Gongola State on 27th
August, 1991 as one of the nine new states created by the Federal
Military Government. It is located in the North Eastern part of the
country. Prior to its creation in 1991, it was part of the North Eastern
StateS from 1967 to February 1976 and Gongola State 1976 - 1991.
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