Ooni to spearhead aggressive two-day campaign aimed at wooing tourists to Ile-Ife

OONI of Ife Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi is planning to introduce a new marketing campaign aimed at attracting more tourists to the historic town that will include a two-day programme due to begin on Saturday November 23.

Believed to be the place where Oduduwa originally landed, Ile-Ife is regarded as the historic home of Nigeria's 41m Yorubas but it is still not major global tourist magnet. Since assuming office in 2015, Oba Ogunwusi has tried to address this by wooing investors and seeking to upgrade the infrastructure in Ile-Ife to attract tourists.

Earlier this week, a community group known as Ife Tourism Reloaded, said it and Oba Ogunwusi will begin a two-day tourism drive in Ile-Ife and its environs to showcase tourist attractions in the ancient city. Oluwagbenga Ayilola, the chairman of the group, said that the programme would not only promote tourism in Nigeria but would also open up economic activities in Ile-Ife and Osun State at large.

He added that Nigeria was blessed with many tourist attractions, many of which were yet to be unveiled to the world. According to Mr Ayilola, who is also Mr Tourism Nigeria, his group is working assiduously with other stakeholders to explore various tourist sites in Ile-Ife and other parts of the country.

Mr Ayilola said: “Kabiyesi, the Ooni of Ife, will be leading us and other interested parties on a two-day tour to showcase the tourist attractions in the ancient city of Ife from a new perspective to the entire world. We will tour the Erin-Ijesha Waterfalls and other tourist centres because we want the world to know that Ile-Ife and its environs have lots of tourist sites, exotic locations and great artistic structures.

”The event will not only promote the tourism industry in Nigeria but it will also boost the economic activities of Ile-Ife and indirectly advertise Osun State to tourist investors across the world."