The National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies, NANTA, is billed to hold its 43rd Annual General Meeting, AGM on the 27th of March, 2019 in Lagos at the Muson center.
At the pre-AGM press conference, the President of NANTA, Mr. Bankole Bernard said the AGM with the Theme: “Developing Strategic Policies for the Sustainability of the Growth of the Travel and Tourism Industry” would have in attendance who is who in the industry and government officials who have signified their interest in facilitating the development and growth of the sector.
Among the dignitaries are the Minister of State, Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Director General, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Captain Muktar Usman who will be the key speaker, Director General, NCAC Otunba Segun Rusewe, Director General NTDC, Folorunsho Coker,goodwill message is expected to be given by the former speaker, Lagos state House of Assembly, Mr. Jokotola Pelumi. Royal Fathers of the day are the Emir of Kano and the Ooni of Ife.
Bankole said they are holding the event in Lagos because most of their commercial operators are in Lagos and also to create awareness among the general public of what NANTA stands for and who the members are.
The AGM is expected to kick off at 9am with the accreditation of members and welcoming of dignitaries and other guests.
He emphasized that the AGM would be an interesting one and unique too based on the theme and the caliber of peopele who are attending the event.
“It’s going to be an interesting one, this AGM is going to be our 43rd, this is to let you know that NANTA is not a baby, we have been having this AGM in the last 43 years, I think is something that we have come a long way, so we want to make this one again another special one, it’s going to have its own uniqueness”.
Bankole noted that the Association had tried as much as possible to draw government’s attention that the travel and tourism sector was enough to take any country to the next level, hoping that the next level President Buhari had talked about would have a roadmap for travel and tourism to the next level as well.
Also speaking on the programme for the AGM, First Deputy President of NANTA and chairperson of the AGM committee, Mrs. Susan Akporai said an awareness walk had been scheduled for 26th March to precede the main event which will kick off from the Alausa Secretariat to the Ikeja Roundabout and back to the Secretariat by members, the media and friends clad in T-shirts and caps.
She said the speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly will address them as he had been hinted about their activities for the day
“The walk is going to be colourful, we are going to make noise, from the secretariat in Alausa to the Ikeja roundabout and back to the secretariat and we intend to have the speaker address us, he has been hinted that we are here, that this is our intention, we are asking him for his support, I hope he will be available after the walk to address us”.
“This is my event and its dear to my heart, this particular one can’t come at a better time than this, we just finished our elections, like the president said, the government is taking Nigeria and the economy to the next level.
“As an Association, we are trying to position ourselves to truly be part of the next level. The truth is that tourism is more of a private sector thing but has a lot of government backing in the place of policies and that is why this year’s AGM is on Developing Strategic policies especially in a country like Nigeria where tourism is taking the back stage”, she added.
She said their partners for the event includes; Ethiopian airlines, Arik air,UBA, Rwandair, the Global Distribution System, Sabre, Amadeus and Galileo, Leadway Insurance and Axa Masaad.
