Tourism minister Lola Ade-John says tourism operators should not be discouraged in marketing Nigeria as a choice destination for tourists because of its challenge of insecurity.

Ms Ade-John made the plea on Thursday in Ilorin during the eighth annual general meeting of the National Association of Tour Operators (NATOP).

She said, “This meeting here helps us to express what we have in Nigeria. We are not creating the experiences we should create. Forget the security challenge in Nigeria. Every country has security issues. Don’t allow the problem of insecurity discourage you from promoting Nigeria.

“And in marketing our dear nation, you should think of promoting experiences. Tourists can come to Nigeria to look at our climate. That is an experience. We have beautiful beaches with mangroves. Why are we not selling these things? We should stop complaining about the government and create experiences ourselves to attract tourists.

“We have experiences you can package for tourists from the 774 local government areas, in which there are communities with stories and traditions to be packaged as tours.”

Ms Ade-John also advised Nigerians to speak positively about the country.

“We should not be engaged in de-marketing our country and should speak positively about this beautiful country. We are already engaging the National Orientation Agency to further work on making people realise the essence of being proud of our country and projecting a positive image of the country,” the minister stressed.

Ms Ade-John added, “The time has come to imbibe in us the pride that Nigeria stands for. We need to sell our country. I want more investors to come and invest in the industry. I want tourism operators to be more visible at the airports, marketing Nigeria.”

(NAN)