Lagos Made N800bn From Tourism In 2017–Ambode

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Monday, said the tourism sector contributed N800 billion to the state’s economy.

The Governor,therefore, stressed that his government “is consciously investing huge resources” to ensure that the state’s tourism potentials are fully harnessed.

Ambode spoke at the Lagos Tourism Summit, held at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, with the theme- ‘Destination Lagos: Towards A Sustainable Tourism-Driven Economy.’

He said the plans, concepts and executions of his administration are “deliberate and well thought-out to make the highly populated mega city-state culturally attractive.”

He said,“As a government, we are conscious of the fact that infrastructure, security, stability and partnership with all stakeholders are fundamental ingredients for tourism development. We have channeled a lot of resources into creating an enduring infrastructural architecture for the business of tourism to thrive.”

According to him,for the State to match up with other leading world tourism destinations like Miami, São Paulo, Dubai, Singapore and Tokyo as well as African cities such as Cape Town, Cairo, Marrakech and Accra, the right infrastructure has to be put in place.

“So when you see us reclaim 50 hectares of land at the Oworonshoki end of our lagoon, when you see us clear a whole stretch at the Badagry and Epe Marina, when we insist that our prime waterfront must not be taken over by shanties and slums, we are preparing the grounds for a major source of employment and prosperity,” said Ambode.

He noted that with the about $2.2billion (N800billion) that the sector contributed to the state’s GDP in 2017, it is expected that the figure would “double or treble in the next five years.”

He said the Lagos Tourism Master plan, which would emerge at the end of the summit, was premised on the context of the fact that the State can become an iconic brand of the black race.

In his keynote address at the occasion, former President of Ghana, Mr. John Dramani Mahama, said that Lagos has the potentials to emerge as a foremost destination for tourism development in Africa.

He said with the billions of dollars revolving in the sector across the world and the over 1.8billion tourists, Lagos was heading in the right direction in its bid to become Africa’s tourism hub.