Nigerians are incredibly welcoming – UN Tourism official

Marcel Leijzer, Manager, Technical Cooperation, United Nations Tourism, on Friday described Nigerians as incredibly welcoming and hospitable.

The UNTourism official spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria after his assessment of various tourism sites in Ekiti State.

Leijzer said the hospitable nature of Nigerians was quite amazing, exciting and capable of attracting tourists.

He said that Nigerians had all it took to create immense wealth from tourism, considering the enormous tourism potential at their disposal

NAN reports that Leijzer explored no fewer than 20 tourism sites within Ekiti State, with the intention of designing a comprehensive master plan to boost tourism in the state.

The UN official, who visited the sites in Ekiti State between August 17 and 22, 2024, listed some of the sites he visited as including Ekiti parapo war museum in Okemesi-Ekiti, Ikogosi warm spring in Ikogosi-Ekiti, and Mount Golgotha in Efon-Alaye-Ekiti.

state’s tourism industry.

He said that having assessed those tourism destinations that must be included in the masterplan, international and national experts would be engaged in the entire process of drafting the plan.

According to him, the expertise needed would be in the area of new resource development and quality development.

He added: “Our main focus will be in delivering technical cooperation and capacity building to staff of Ekiti State Bureau of Tourism to enable them work effectively in grooming the industry.

“We will also look into the sustainability aspect and tourism promotion, we will engage our social media platforms to market the state as a choice destination for tourism.

“We are going to provide advice on how the tourism sector can be groomed

Let us believe that this will be the beginning of a long lasting collaboration in tourism development with Nigeria.”

Speaking on his favourite Nigerian cuisine, Leijzer said his favourite local cuisine was fufu and pounded yam with any good soup, adding: “I’m also fascinated by the enormous amount of seafood available everywhere.

“I really love typical Nigerian breakfasts, very light and nice.”

Also speaking with NAN, Wale Ojo-Lanre, Director-General of Ekiti State Bureau of Tourism, who led the UN team through the tourism destinations, expressed excitement over the great feat achieved to have gained the team’s attention.

Ojo-Lanre appreciated Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State for his usual support for the industry, saying it would mark the beginning of lofty developments in the state.