A digital technological advancement called “Tourism Hackathon Nigeria” has been introduced by the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) to hasten the growth of tourism in the nation.
Director-General of NTDC, Folorunsho Coker stated at news conference in Lagos that the initiative was intended to address issues affecting businesses within the tourism ecosystem.
Coker identified several issues, including proper pricing, secure payment channels, market access, customer service and retention, bookings and reservations, data collection and analytics, distribution setup, and supply chain and logistics.
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According to him, the initiative is a collaborative effort of the private and public sectors.
He said the private sector would bring the intellectual capacity while the public provides the enabling resources that would help the idea to thrive.
According to Coker, these efforts are necessary to upscale the tourism industry considering the enormous potential inherent in the industry.
He said going by the theme for the 2022 World Tourism Day, “Rethinking Tourism”, there was an urgent need to reflect and rethink operations in the industry over the years.
“With over 147 million active internet subscriptions and a tele-density of almost 97 per cent, we have a ready-made and vast domestic market for tourism development locally,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Ayo Gbadebo, Chief Executive Officer, Bycep, one of the partners for the actualisation of the initiative explained the modalities.
Gbadebo noted that the hackathon would be done during the forthcoming United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Conference from scheduled to hold in Lagos from Nov. 14 to Nov. 15.
He said the initiative would engage interested individuals to rethink tourism in a digital technology space, as the application portal (www.bycep.co/tourismhackathon) had been opened.
“These individual will be engaged to develop technological apps, for instance like Uber, travel advisor and all, the idea is that whatever application developed should be such that will aid tourism growth.
“For the days, these individuals will be accommodated to work properly, and application is opened to everyone in the tourism space, from the six geo-political zones of the country.
“Top best five individuals will be picked at the first stage while the overall winner will be rewarded with an all expense paid trip to Madrid.
”The winner will also have the privilege of representing Nigeria at the Uinted Nations World Tourism Organisation innovation challenge in 2023,” he said.
The Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria’s (FTAN) South-West Coordinator, Mr. Tunde Kolade, stated, “We are proud of this innovation and we are ready to partner with you on this.”
Also congratulating NTDC for the lovely innovation was Mr. Yinka Ladipo, National Financial Secretary, National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA).
He expressed excitement over the choice of engaging a local technological company to coordinate the initiative.
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