Africa’s cultural assets have a lot to offer the world in harnessing opportunities in the global tourism and creative industry.
Nigeria’s Vice President made this point when he opened the the UN World Tourism Organisation Conference, UNWTO Conference in Lagos.
“See how the Black Panther movie and it’s sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has taken the world by storm, breaking box office records and making over 330 million dollars in sales in its first week,” the Nigerian Vice President noted in his opening speech at the National Theatre in Lagos.
“It proved a point that Africans local and in the diaspora can, using African themes, music, actors, producers and technical people create a movie that is an outstanding cinematic and technical achievement, with a modern, relevant theme. And that an African premiere of the movie was held in Africa is an important statement all by itself.”
The theme for this year’s conference has been titled: Linking Tourism, Culture and Creative Industries: Pathway to Recovery and Inclusive Development.
The Nigerian President commended the UNWTO for holding what he called a ground breaking conference in Nigeria.
“It is an opportunity to define the future of tourism. What more can we do to make the movement of peoples across borders easier? I am sure this gathering of experts and industry players and tourism enthusiasts will at least begin the process of finding answers.”
According to the UNWTO, tourism is the third-largest export category after fuels and chemicals. In 2019, tourism accounted for 7% of global trade, making it the third largest export sector of the global economy.
This year’s tourism conference brought together top-notch panelists and stakeholders in Lagos to discuss linkages and opportunities between cultural tourism and the creative.
The Secretary-General of the UNWTO, Zurab Pololikashvili, said the conference this time had a special mix of participants.
“This is the first time we are having this type of conference with different players — chefs, designers, finacial sectors, ministers, different players. And it’s about tourism,”he told the audience at the event.
Pololikashvili added that the conference would end on Wednesday, in Lagos to make the conference successful.
Lateefah Ibrahim
