Tourism is not built by speeches. It is built by systems, and the most successful tourism economies in the world understand this simple truth. They treat the tourism value chain as a shared responsibility that must be constantly revisited, funded, and activated. For Nigeria, that lesson has never been more urgent. We cannot afford to keep doing partnership by press release, while other nations are doing partnership by projects, data, and dollars.
Look across continents and you will see what collaboration actually looks like when it is operational and not ceremonial. In West Africa, Ghana’s ‘Year of Return,’ in 2019 and the follow-up ‘Beyond the Return’ campaign were not the work of government alone. The Ministry of Tourism, the Ghana Tourism Authority, private airlines, hotels and the diaspora, all pulled in the same direction.
The result was 1.1 million international arrivals in 2019 and about 3.3 billion dollars in receipts. Rwanda took a different route but with the same principle. By partnering with Arsenal FC and running ‘Visit Rwanda’ to market gorilla tourism, the country recorded 1.4 million visitors in 2023 and 620 million dollars in revenue, a 36 percent jump from the previous year. Their secret was not one big event. It was constant activation through events, joint marketing, and tracking what works.
Move further across Africa and the pattern repeats. Morocco’s Ministry of Tourism, working with regional councils and private operators, runs ‘Light in Action’ campaigns in Europe and the Gulf. In 2023, that machinery delivered 14.5 million tourists and 11 billion dollars. Kenya’s ‘Magical Kenya’ brand is co-funded by government and the private sector, and in the same year, it welcomed 2.09 million tourists, who spent 4.42 billion dollars.
In Europe, Spain manages tourism through formal agreements between the central government, its 17 autonomous regions and industry players. That structure helped Spain host 85.2 million international tourists in 2023 and earn 92 billion dollars. France, still number one globally, received 100 million visitors and 71 billion dollars in receipts, driven by the constant collaboration between Atout France, the regions and operators on the ground.
In Asia, Thailand’s ‘Amazing Thailand’ campaign is run jointly by the Tourism Authority, airlines and hotels. Even after COVID, Thailand recovered to 28 million visitors in 2023 and 49 billion dollars in earnings. Singapore does something similar. The Singapore Tourism Board works with Changi Airport and over 300 private firms, and in 2023 that ecosystem brought in 13.6 million visitors and 22.8 billion dollars. The Arabian Gulf tells the same story. Dubai Tourism works hand-in-hand with Emirates, Emaar and the eight emirates, and Dubai alone had 17.15 million visitors in 2023.
Saudi Arabia, through Vision 2030, led by the Ministry of Tourism and the PIF, delivered 27.4 million international tourists and 38 billion dollars in revenue. The message is consistent everywhere. Collaboration plus constant activation equals results.
Nigeria’s reality, unfortunately, is different, we are good at the first step. We sign MOUs. We host seminars. We take photos. The recent NTDA and FTAN collaboration with the Chinese Embassy for the ‘China Tourism Development Experience Seminar’ scheduled for September 8, 2026, at the China Cultural Centre, in Abuja, is a welcome move. But, the real test will be what happens after that morning. Will there be trainers exchanged? Will policy lessons be adopted? Will pilot projects be funded? Or will it end as another idea with no execution? That is the gap that has kept us behind. While Morocco builds desert resorts and Rwanda sells gorillas, we are still arguing over who should market Yankari. While Dubai builds airports and Saudi builds NEOM, many of our destinations still struggle with access roads, security and poor packaging.
If we are serious about changing this, collaboration must happen at every layer and it must move from talk to task. The National Assembly has to treat tourism like agriculture and oil. We need a Tourism Development Fund Act, real tax incentives for investors, and oversight that tracks projects instead of just holding hearings. Spain and Saudi Arabia did not grow tourism by accident. They legislated it.
The Federal Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the Creative Economy, working with NTDA, must coordinate ‘Brand Nigeria,’ negotiate bilateral agreements with clear execution clauses, and publish data. Every bilateral tie should come with a 12-month project deliverable so that we stop signing MOUs that gather dust.
The states own the products. Cross River has the rainforest, Osun has Osun-Osogbo, Lagos has nightlife and entertainment, Plateau has the weather. Kano has history. State tourism boards must be professionalised, funded and aligned with federal marketing. Rwanda’s success came because the national government and the districts worked together, and we must copy that discipline.
The private sector, from FTAN to hotels, tour operators and airlines, must also stop waiting for government. Ghana’s breakthrough happened because airlines, hotels and event planners put money behind the campaign. We need more data sharing, more training, and higher standards across the board.
When we finally move beyond handshakes to implementation, the gains will be obvious. If Nigeria captures just five percent of Africa’s 66 million international tourists recorded in 2023, which is 3.3 million visitors, an average spend of $1,500 per tourist that is close to five billion dollars annually. Tourism employs one in 10 people globally. With over 35 million Nigerians unemployed or underemployed, this sector can be our biggest job engine. Through public-private partnerships modeled after Dubai and Morocco, we can deliver roads to Olumo Rock, an airport near Obudu, and visitor centers at Argungu. Most importantly, tourism is non-oil; it is less volatile, and it spreads wealth directly to communities.
The time for ‘idea, photo and handshake’ tourism is over. What we need now are Quarterly Tourism Implementation Summits that bring together the Ministry, states, National Assembly committees and FTAN to review projects. We need Bilateral Tourism Compacts with China, the UAE, Morocco and Ghana that include exchange programmes, joint marketing and at least two funded projects every year. We need a State-Federal Marketing Fund where states contribute and NTDA matches for global campaigns. And we need a Tourism Data Dashboard published monthly, the way the CBN reports foreign exchange, so that we can measure what works and fix what does not.
Ghana did it with diaspora. Rwanda did it with gorillas. Morocco did it with deserts. Dubai did it with vision. Nigeria can do it with culture, creativity and scale. But only if we collaborate, and only if we sustain that collaboration through practical programmes. The National Assembly must legislate it.
The ministry must coordinate it. The states must own it. The private sector must drive it. Tourism will not develop because we wish it. It will develop because we work for it, together, consistently, and beyond lip service. Nigeria’s potential is not the problem. Our commitment to execution is. Let us fix that now.