By Jimoh Babatunde

After more than two decades in the shadows, the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN) is staging a comeback, determined to reclaim its place as the collective voice of the nation’s travel and hospitality industry.

At a breakfast hangout with members of the Association of Nigerian Journalists and Writers of Tourism (ANJET), ATPN President, Prince Fadina, laid out a vision anchored on restructuring, compliance, and capacity building, describing it as the roadmap for restoring relevance to the once-dormant body.
Elected on November 19, 2024, Fadina compared the association’s state to “a rusted pipeline” that must be carefully oiled before ideas and initiatives can flow again.

“Membership must mean value. You cannot be part of the association without compliance. Payment is membership, and compliance is non-negotiable,” he said.

From Dormancy to Revival
Founded in 1992, ATPN slipped into a “comatose” state for nearly 28 years, leaving practitioners without a unified voice. Now, under Fadina’s leadership, chapters are re-emerging. He cited the Abuja chapter, which recently achieved 100% dues compliance at its inauguration, as proof of a new era of discipline and accountability.

His revival strategy rests on three pillars:
Organic Membership Growth – encouraging practitioners across the tourism value chain to contribute their talents and expertise.
Capacity Building – equipping members with relevant training for both domestic and international tourism practice.

Corporate Sponsorship and Structural Compliance – enforcing dues payment, streamlining internal processes, and attracting partnerships for sustainability.

Voice of the Practitioners
Fadina positioned ATPN as the umbrella body representing every segment of the tourism ecosystem—travel agents, tour operators, hoteliers, airlines, cultural custodians, students, and grassroots workers.
He recalled meeting a hotel receptionist in Abuja who slept on the floor due to poor welfare, insisting such frontline staff deserve advocacy as much as executives.
“Those are the kinds of people I want to fight for, to ensure better welfare and service standards,” he declared.

Building for the Future

Drawing lessons from international exposure in Gambia, Barbados, and South Africa, and from his 15 years as Deputy President of the National Association of Tour Operators (NATOP), Fadina stressed that structure, not size, determines success.

“What I saw in Gambia, with their small population of 1.6 million, showed me what systems can achieve. If we put the same structures in place here with our capacity, we will go very far,” he said.

While admitting ATPN currently has “very few paying members,” he expressed confidence that within a year, the association will be restructured, financially stable, and influential in tourism policy advocacy.

“Sustainability is non-negotiable. We must bring up young people, mentor them, and hand over a stronger system than we met. By this time next year, you will sing a new tune about ATPN,” he assured stakeholders.