The Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA) and the China Tourism Academy have agreed to deepen cooperation to attract more Chinese tourists to Nigerian destinations.

The agreement was reached at a recent meeting between NTDA officials and officials of the China Tourism Academy in Beijing, the NTDA said in a statement issued on Saturday.

NTDA director-general, Ola Awakan, during the meeting, called for a structured China-Nigeria Tourism Market Development Programme to provide deeper insights into Chinese travellers’ trends and preferences.

Mr Awakan said the programme would help Nigeria develop tourism products and destination marketing strategies tailored to the Chinese market and strengthen its competitiveness in global tourism.

He also advocated increased technical and capacity-building cooperation in tourism data and research, destination development, standards, and institutional development.

According to him, stronger collaboration would create opportunities for Chinese tourism investors, operators, and hospitality businesses to explore investment-ready projects in Nigeria.

Mr Awakan reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to diversifying Nigeria’s economy through tourism and stressed the importance of international partnerships in achieving the objective.

Responding, Dai Bin, President of the China Tourism Academy, commended Mr Awakan’s initiatives in Nigeria’s tourism sector and described the country as richly endowed with cultural and historical resources.

Mr Bin expressed the academy’s readiness to establish a strategic partnership with the NTDA to support its mandate and promote tourism exchanges between Nigeria and China.

He, however, stressed the need to improve Nigeria’s image and visibility among Chinese tourists and tourism operators to strengthen understanding of the country.

“Nigeria’s image needs to be promoted in the minds of the Chinese people for our operators and tourists to understand your country better,” he said.

Mr Bin also called for more exchange programmes in education, training, and business to strengthen interactions between the two countries.

The China Tourism Academy also expressed willingness to collaborate with the NTDA to establish a Nigerian International Tourism Promotion Centre in China.

The proposed centre is expected to promote Nigerian destinations and tourism products, improve understanding of the Chinese market, and attract more Chinese tourists to Nigeria.

The meeting was attended by Yang Jinsong, director of the Department of International Exchange and Finance at the China Tourism Academy and other senior officials.

The meeting formed part of Mr Awakan’s working visit to China, which also included participation in a seminar on Climate Action and Sustainable Development Goals for Developing Countries.

The seminar is being facilitated by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce as part of efforts to expose participants to China’s development strategies.

(NAN)