Abuja: In 2025, industry leaders raised concerns about Nigeria’s rapidly expanding tourism sector, which includes festivals, hotels, and investments, pointing out the lack of strategic coordination or a guiding national framework.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, this absence of a National Tourism Master Plan is eroding investor confidence, stunting job creation, and jeopardizing the sector’s long-term viability. Experts emphasize that such a blueprint is crucial for shaping policy, directing infrastructure, attracting investment, and enhancing Nigeria’s global tourism profile. Femi Fadina, President of the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria, notes the fragmentation in tourism development due to a lack of a clearly defined vision and coordinated development pathway. Policies change with each administration, projects lack continuity, and stakeholders operate in silos, resulting in wasted resources and missed economic opportunities.
Despite Nigeria’s wealth of festivals, heritage sites, and creative talent, the tourism sector’s contribution to the GDP remains marginal compared to countries like Kenya, Morocco, and South Africa. The absence of a master plan has also weakened investor confidence, as serious investors seek long-term policy direction and infrastructure blueprints before committing capital. Fadina points out that Nigeria lacks a unified destination brand, which is essential for projecting a consistent narrative and attracting global tourism markets.
Fadina emphasizes the need for community participation, heritage preservation, tourism education, and sustainability frameworks. He warns that the lack of structure results in lost revenue, jobs, and cultural preservation opportunities, hindering tourism’s potential as a significant contributor to the GDP. He calls for a stakeholder-driven, research-based National Tourism Master Plan with a long-term vision, phased milestones, and tourism clusters across the six geopolitical zones. Additionally, Fadina advocates for legislative backing and a strong national tourism institution to drive implementation and ensure continuity across administrations.
In Lagos State, Solomon Bonu, Chairman of the House of Assembly Committee on Tourism, Arts and Culture, emphasizes the importance of implementing the state’s Tourism Master Plan, which integrates transport, agro-tourism, and medical tourism. Bonu calls for stronger private sector collaboration, increased budgetary support, and transparency in spending to drive economic impact. He stresses the need for execution at the sub-national level and urges collaboration with the private sector to integrate various tourism sectors into planning.
Beyond Lagos, stakeholders highlight the lack of a national framework to coordinate efforts. Frank Meke, Founder of Creative Naija, underscores the importance of a tourism master plan for guiding investment, infrastructure, and private sector engagement. He warns that without such a plan, Nigeria is missing out on profiting from its cultural festivals due to policy gaps, insecurity, and mismanaged events. Meke insists that security must be prioritized for Nigeria to host profitable international events.
As 2025 comes to a close, stakeholders consistently warn that Nigeria’s tourism sector, despite its growth, lacks direction. They emphasize the need for structure, intent, and disciplined execution to harness Nigeria’s rich history, heritage, culture, and creative industries for sustainable tourism development.