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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Culture & Society

Ekiti seeks to unlock tourism potential through cultural festivals

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

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  • Ekiti State has urged communities to formally register their cultural festivals with the state Bureau of Tourism Development.
  • Bureau Director-General Wale Ojo-Lanre said registration would improve festivals’ visibility, coordination, branding and legal recognition.
  • The government linked tourism growth to visitor spending by hotels, transport operators, food vendors and other businesses, citing recent attendance of more than 3,000 people at an Ado-Ekiti cultural event.

Ekiti State is turning to its festivals as a way to bring more visitors and business activity to communities across the state. The state government has asked festival organisers to register their events with the Bureau of Tourism Development.

Wale Ojo-Lanre, the bureau’s director-general, said formal registration would help preserve cultural heritage while giving festivals better visibility, coordination, branding, consultancy and legal recognition. He spoke in Ado-Ekiti during the registration of the Epa Festival in Omuo-Ekiti.

“Registering cultural festivals with the state government through the bureau will enhance their visibility, preserve cultural heritage and unlock the economic potential of tourism,” Ojo-Lanre said. He added that registration was required by law, just as hotels must also register.

Registering cultural festivals with the state government through the bureau will enhance their visibility, preserve cultural heritage and unlock the economic potential of tourism.

— Wale Ojo-LanreThe Ekiti tourism bureau director-general explained the purpose of registering community festivals.

The bureau said it would work with communities to develop festivals that attract visitors while maintaining peace and order. Ojo-Lanre pointed to more than 3,000 visitors at a recent cultural event in Ado-Ekiti as evidence of the commercial possibilities. He said increased tourist traffic could benefit hotels, transport operators, filling stations, event centres, food vendors and fashion designers.

The state also highlighted the completion of the Ekiti State International Cargo Airport, tourism policies, a tourism development master plan, improved security and infrastructure, and the creation of the tourism bureau. Ojo-Lanre said the airport had given the formerly landlocked state an additional way to receive tourists. He also stressed that private-sector participation would be needed to develop the sector.

We have to plan with them; we have to make it so that it will be a first-class festival that people will come while also ensuring that organisers maintain peace and order during such events.

— Wale Ojo-LanreHe described how the bureau would work with festival organisers.
About this summary

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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