The Lagos State Commissioner of Tourism, Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf, has been chosen by members of the Tourism 100 Club and the Publishers of Travellers Magazine as the Best Tourism Commissioner in Nigeria in 2021.
Other outstanding Nigerians emerged winners of the awards, which were selected by the Tourism Committee and approved by publishers of Travellers Magazine and Atqnews.
Almost all the nominations by the members went for the Lagos State Commissioner of Tourism, who engaged stakeholders and initiated trainings for tour operators and creatives based in Lagos.
Lagos State has become the benchmark for most states in tourism development with the launch of its Tourism Masterplan in 2021. She initiated the Community Based Tourism, CBT projects in the five divisions of Lagos.
The state also launched a Trust Fund that provides loans and grants to tourism practitioners based in Lagos.
The Chairman of Air Peace, Chief Allen Onyema, was also chosen as the Travel Personality of the Year 2021, following his consistent performance in the aviation business. His airline, Air Peace is the first airline to bring a brand new commercial passenger plane to Nigeria since Arik Air and Virgin Nigeria did that more than 10 years ago. Five brand new Embraer E195 E2 Aircraft were received by Air Peace for operations in Nigeria.
His airline had been evacuating stranded Nigerians in many countries and became the official carrier of the Super Eagles. In 2021 he became the positive force for aviation and travel business in Nigeria. His Pan Nigeria messages have endeared him to Nigerians as a unifying leader. No wonder Nigerians rallied to support him in the Impasse with UAE.
For the Tourism CEO of the Year 2021, the record of events and activities engaged in by the Director-General of NIHOTOUR, Turaki Nura Kangiwa, brought a breath of fresh air to the tourism arena in 2021 with events and training staged across the country.
He identified the absence of government in private sector environment; set up partnership bid with tourism associations, set up the sector skill council, opened up new campuses of the tourism training institute and anchored the World Tourism Day (WTD) 2021.
The WTD restored the role of government in Nigeria for the international event initiated by a Nigerian, late Chief Ignatius Amaduwa Atigbi.
The Tourism Man of the Year is the President of FTAN, Nkereuwem Onung.
His election as the FTAN President was a unifying tonic needed by the Tourism Community driven by dichotomy and in-fighting. His election was almost unanimous as all the leading tourism associations backed his election.
He has since set out inaugurating Zonal Chapters and encouraging strong member associations.
His mantra of “Strong Associations Make Strong Federation” seems to resonate with members. He has brought together a team that promises to lift tourism a notch higher in the New Year.
The Awards will be presented on March 11th 2022 at Abuja Jabamah.
Travellers Award was instituted in 1996 by the Publishers of Travellers Magazine and Atqnews.com with the Theme: “Promoting Excellence in Travels.”
