She strongly regrets that a potential source of revenue such as tourism could be neglected in a country like Nigeria with diverse ethnicity and rich cultural heritage.

The Principal Consultant of  Lagos-based Gren Business Dimensions, a Travels and Tour firm which was established few years ago, Mrs.Rosemary Duamlong, in this interview with Gift Gabriel, expresses optimism over the sector as she calls on the Nigerian government to promote the industry. Enjoy:
How has it been since you established Gren Business?

The leverage I have is the contacts I established in my previous employments; that was before establishing Gren Business. Immediately I graduated from the Lagos State University where I studied English Language, I got a job with the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce as a Programme/Publicity Officer. As a matter of fact, that office gave me the required background. What I actually learnt from the chamber was the power of networking. I later worked with HSSL Global, a hotel and management group as a Marketing Manager. Later, I become the Public Relations Manager.

I eventually pioneered the business tourism desk at HSSL. There, I was able to establish over three tours outside Nigeria, based on what I had learnt from the Chamber of Commerce. From there, I moved to Five Star Travels Limited where I learnt more about the traveling business. It was after leaving Five Star that I established my own travels and tour firm, Gren Business Dimensions.

Mrs.Rosemary Duamlong

All these have actually taught me that when you’re working for somebody, it is best to treat the business as if it’s yours because tomorrow, when you start yours, those people you serviced will always come to you. So, today I’m enjoying the efforts I gave to companies with whom I worked in the past. So far, I’ll say I give glory to God.

A lot of women claim that gender issues pose a challenge to their businesses. Have you had any of such?

In the tourism industry, women stand out! I’ve not really had gender issues.

Anyway, talking about gender issues depends on the angle from which you’re looking at them. I say to women, when you’re doing whatever business, do it not with the mind of ‘I’m a woman’. In business, you must get it into your psyche that you’re an individual running an organization/business, whether you’re a man or a woman.

But if you do not see yourself that way, you begin to have problems. This is not to say that there are no gender issues. Of course, even men in the field of marketing complain that women are more favourable in the field! It cuts across! One thing with me is that I do not focus on problems; rather, I find a way round it.

What’s your opinion on the Nigerian tourism industry?

Our tourism industry has so much room for growth and extension. We’re not there yet. I’m not comparing the sector with that of America, Britain or Europe. I’m talking in relation to fellow African countries like Ghana, Gambia, to mention but a few. These people have seen what tourism is all about.

I tell you, tourism is a money-spinner for any country because people will always travel, will always want recreation and relaxation, and will always want to see interesting sites! What makes tourism thrives is the level of security in a nation, and that’s one major thing we seem to lack in Nigeria. We still have a lot of work to do for our tourism industry to make progress.

What would you recommend?

First of all, like I’ve said, we must ensure there is security. I give you an example. In South Africa, on the very day that Jacob Zuma was taking over from Thomas Mbeki, I was at the presidential villa with a group of travelers that I had taken to South Africa on a business tour! In the midst of what was going on at that time! That is just to tell you the level of security even in affairs! I’ll give you another recent example from my Nigerian experience. I was held up for two and a half hours in traffic on Lagos Island because the President wanted to pass! That was on the day of the Prime Minister of Britain’s visit! That won’t happen in a country where everybody feels a sense of security. I mean, juxtapose these situations and you’ll know what I’m talking about. It is when a President is afraid of the citizens that you see security being beefed-up for easy passage.

What I’m saying is that if a citizen of a nation does not feel safe, is it a tourist coming to the country that will feel safe? Security is one major problem that calls for concern in this country. Another factor to be looked at is infrastructure. Nigerians, including tourists, complain that hotels in Nigeria are so expensive.

The fact is that in hotels abroad, you pay only for the room you’re occupying. But here in Nigeria, from what you’re paying, the hotel management is buying diesel(because you cannot be kept in the dark when PHCN seizes power), paying for security, to mention but a few. The three security shifts- morning, afternoon and night, have to be paid for! So, we can see how the situations in the country are affecting the cost of running hotels which are supposed to be vital to tourism! Overseas, a typical 100-room hotel could just have a maximum of ten staff. They do not need security men to man the gates! If these two things could be tackled- security and infrastructure, our tourism industry will thrive.

But why should Nigeria bother about its tourism sector when revenue from oil is still flowing?

Where is the oil money? If we believe it’s enough for us, why are we borrowing? Nobody relies on any single source of income! Whoever does that definitely wants to die! Go round the world today, and you’ll find that tourism is one industry that has become the highest employer of labour.

For countries that have embraced tourism, tourism has become their major source of income! Gambia is a good example. South Africa has gold and so many other resources, but yet, they’ve embraced tourism and it has become one of their highest sources of revenue. We cannot say in Nigeria that we’re comfortable with our oil money because the money is obviously dwindling by the day!

Nigeria has great potentials that could boost tourism- is it in natural resources, our large geographical zones, our people, our reach cultural ethnicity, the diversity of our culture? These are enough tourist attraction.

When you take people to South Africa, they always want to visit the Hills of a One Thousand Valley to watch the Zulu people do the Zulu dance. Meanwhile, we have failed to package our own ethnic groups properly! From Donald Duke’s time, Calabar for example has been able to catch up on the need for tourism. In the industry, from October, you cannot book a Calabar-based hotel online because they are all fully booked by tourists! The local flights into Calabar are also almost booked right now! You see, everybody now looks forward to December in Calabar!

I’ve packaged so many people who come into the country just to see the Calabar festival. Lagos State is trying to do something like that but I do not know how it is going to work because of the issue of population and infrastructure in the state! Before Donald Duke got to that level, he put some infrastructures and beautifications in place. Also, people do not get stuck in traffic in Calabar simply because of a festival! But this has been a major challenge each time the Lagos festival is holding. However, there is still room for improvement.