The Director General, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, Sally Mbanefo is a barrister at law, a banker and a technocrat. Since her assumption of office at the tourism house, she has not hidden her desire to attract investment into the sector .

Mbanefo

In this chat after delivering a paper at the 8th national conference of the Hospitality And Tourism Management Association of Nigeria(HATMAN) in Abuja recently, Mrs. Mbanefo shares her plans for a tourism bond in the country.

Here is an excerpt

On how to attract investment into tourism

Tourism is about providing assets for people to invest in. But people will not invest in assets unless there is a revenue stream from that investment and a return on their capital.

What are the assets we have in Nigeria? Nigeria is blessed with waterfalls, caves, hotels, parks, sandy beaches, large lakes, and historic sites. Nigeria is able to offer a range of tourism experiences applicable to the general holidaymaker as well as the traveller looking for something off the beaten track.

To invest in tourism there must be clarity on how people can invest their tourism dollars for a fixed period, how they can monetize this tourism investment and how they can see a clear path for exit or onward – sale of their investment if need be.

On identifying tourism projects across the country

My idea is to identify for investment, tourism projects aimed at specific tourists and to create an enabling environment that respects and encourages this investment.

We are a friendly nation welcoming of visitors. Once identified, I intend to put the six (specific) projects into a prospectus which should be a document that forms the compendium of opportunities we are inviting people to invest in.

To generate revenue we would need to achieve a world standard tourism experience. To do this we will target for cooperation those who have had experience managing emerging markets tourism experiences and turning those into benchmarks that attract hundreds of millions of tourism dollars annually.

Tourism in Nigeria is where telecoms was, say twenty years ago. Today as an investment proposition Nigerian telecoms is probably the best in the world. The same will be said of tourism in 5 – 10 years from now if appropriate measures and initiatives are taken

On what the investors stand to gain

The investors will be given long term tenure for their investment and where applicable the underlying asset will either revert back to the government after the project investment period lapses or continue with the pioneer investor once revenue has been created for the government and a generous return on capital achieved for the investor.

With this plan we can achieve Nigeria’s goal of being tourism destination hot spot where people come to spend their dollars and this is achievable within 5 – 10 years

But first, we must define what makes the world class standard experience unique to Nigeria. We cannot be everything to everyone from day one but we can entice them by knowing what they want and what their alternatives are.

What we want to create is a must – have experience that meets a world –standard benchmark for these tourists and investors.

For example, a tourist may have seen the slave trade story from other African countries’ perspectives but the story is not complete until they have visited Nigeria for the last part jigsaw.

They may enjoy golf and so want to be playing in sunshine which we have in abundance of, but be surrounded by first-class amenities at a price that represents value.

The tourist may want to travel across water to an offshore beach resort just as he does in Tanzania or Zanzibar. He or she may want an ecological experience and yet know that when they get back to base they too have comfort, a great meal and seamless internet connections.

The tourist may want a well-planned tour of durbars and festivals but know that at each place he will be spending the night in comfortable world – class accommodation that enhances the experience.

We want to create family – holiday destinations whether these are at beaches; water parks or even focused around Nigeria’s numerous lakes. There are ideas that we need to focus and galvanize to create a product that meets all health and safety requirements.

On the need for tourism bond

We intend to launch a tourism bond underpinned by what will be a secure revenue –stream generated from a prospective tourism development levied on departures.

The bond will give us the money we need for investment in the six projects today and these investments will create jobs; careers, transfer of skills and the right product. The yield on the bond will recognize that we want investment and recognizes where we are on the tourism ladder today.

We have a fast growing middle class who want to enjoy their lives and want to spend their hard earned money but want in turn, value for their money. They do not want to be cheated. We need to create and develop top quality tourism products for them and their families. That is why we want to launch a bond.

In 2015, we intend to form a tourism committee, and I would like for Mr President and the minister to form a committee with people with international exposure to contribute to the new tourism journey. I would like for Mr President to give them a 6 – month tenure to come up with a template.

My role and the role of the committee is to answer the tourism question in terms of creating viable business opportunities for investments that enhance the Nigerian tourism experience. Being a business, we must not forget that investors must see appreciable value and a handsome ROI (return on investment).

For the investor it is not just about a Durbar, a Sango Festival, a New Yam Festival, or a beach, it is about a sustainable business with handsome returns.