GOGE AFRICA TRAINS 24 YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS IN TOURISM BUSINESS
Goge Africa, a foremst Nigeria’s multiple award-winning African tourism brand, has concluded the training of 24 young tourism entrepreneurs, the second in the series of trainings embarked on by the organisation in partnership with the Lagos State government, Sterling Bank, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) and other collaborators.
According to New Telegraph Newspaper, the series of training in tourism was kick started earlier in the year with the first series where about 20 entrepreneurs were trained and certified in tourism business.
The training programme, which is targeted at training 1, 000 youths in tourism business, is designed as part of the contribution by Goge Africa and its partners in expanding tourism in Nigeria through engagement with the youths. The choice of the youth, according to Goge Africa management, is a deliberate one and it is meant among others to create a better understanding of tourism and improve its viability as a business and not just social or entertain-ment engagement as many Nigerians have misconstrue it to be, particularly the government. Speaking on this latest endeavour, the Chief Executive Officer of Goge Africa, Isaac Moses, said the training; “is a progressive curriculum which throws light on the concepts of sustainable tourism and its contribution to the socio-economic growth of our communities.” Special Assistant on Tourism, Arts and Culture to the Lagos State governor, Solomon Bonu, said that: “What Goge Africa has been doing in terms of tourism is commendable.
That is the reason why I am here. This training is to equip you to have knowledge in the field of tourism. The potentials we have in Lagos State alone are much. With tourism, you can control the world.” While the representative of Sterling Bank, Mr. Shina Atilola, who expressed the willingness of bank to continue support tourism businesses through funding, challenged the young trainees to carve a niche for themselves in the different aspect of tourism businesses. ‘‘Find your own niche, create your strength as a country, create your strength as a state. That makes us unique.
That makes us great. We should be proud of it, embrace it and project it to the world. One major unique area that I think that you have to leverage on that a lot of people don’t have, is your leveraging on the power of the social media,” urged Atilola. Speaking on the importance of quality in tourism business, the Vice President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) South- West, Otunba Ayo Olumoko, said: “Anything you want to do, you can totally look at how to promote it, how to sell it, how to market it, and then how to make it a very good quality brand that can stand the test of time.”
Presenting the certificates to the trainees, the Project Manager, Lekki Conservation Centre, Mr. Adedamola Ogunsesan, encouraged them to make good use of the knowledge garnered during the training. He further disclosed that in times past, organisations sponsored capacity trainings for staff but that unfortunately, in recent times due to paucity of funds and more competition, trainings such as this organised by Goge Africa, are hard to come by. The trainings, who at the end of the four days session where also exposed to practical aspect of tourism and tour of some of the tourist attractions in Lagos State, expressed delight at the opportunity to be trained while commending Goge Africa and other partners for the privilege offered them freely to be trained and equipped the needed skill to excel in their different enterprises. A
