Dubai restrictions should serve as the catalyst to start work on our own domestic tourism industry

By Ayo Akinfe

[1] So this week, Dubai has placed restrictions on Nigerians visiting the city-state in response to an incidence of armed robbery by five Nigerians. For me, this is actually a good thing because as the saying goes - Necessity is the mother of invention. We should use the opportunity to address our chronic tourism problems

[2] Over the last 20 years of so, rich Nigerians have been flocking to Dubai in huge numbers to throw lavish parties. Even our leaders hold the weddings of their children there, while many Nigerian businesses, old school associations, community groups, etc, who could easily hold retreats in Nigeria, chose to go to Dubai for jamborees. No doubt, their activities boost the economy of the principality and allow it to continue expanding

[3] Like Nigeria, Dubai started out as wholly dependent on oil but today, today, less than 5% of the emirate's revenue comes from oil. Dubai's non-oil foreign trade stood at $362bn as far back as 2014. In Dubai, the government's decision to diversify from a trade-based, oil-reliant economy to one that is service and tourism-oriented made property more valuable

[4] Do you know that Dubai city hosted 14.9m overnight visitors in 2016 and this is expected to reach 20m by 2020? Dubai has been called the shopping capital of the Middle East as it has more than 70 shopping centres, including the world's largest shopping centre, the Dubai Mall

[5] Over the last 15 years, Dubai has invested massively in infrastructure like rail metros, roads, security, hotel;s, beaches, holiday resorts, conference centres, etc. The only place in Nigeria that can compare with it in any way shape of form with regards to upgrading its infrastucture over the last 15 years is Akwa Ibom State but hey, more has been spent in Akwa Ibom than in Dubai. One is a global tourist economy and the other is still struggling

[6] Now, we have to live in the world as it is and not as we would want the world to be, so it is not realistic to expect the whole of Nigeria to become Dubai overnight. However, we can adopt the Tasmania model of developing an island tourist paradise, which could easily bring in a sum identical to the $50bn or so we are getting from crude oil sales annually

[7] Australia has sought to develop Tasmania as a tourist paradise, away from the mainland. We will not, however, copy their example of depopulating it of local people because that is tantamount to genocide. After hostilities between settlers and Aboriginals ceased in 1832, almost all of the remnants of the indigenous population were persuaded or forced by government agent George Robinson to move to Flinders Island. Many quickly succumbed to infectious diseases to which they had no immunity, reducing the population further. Of those removed from Tasmania, the last to die was Truganini, in 1876

[8] What we can do is build an artificial island off the coast somewhere and turn it into a dedicated tourist destination. Off the coast of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Lagos states, we have the potential to create an island where security, power, water, transport, hotels, etc that can sustain a world class tourist industry. Such ventures should be easy to attract capital for as they pay for themselves withing five to 10 years

[9] If you ask me, it is highly irresponsible of Nigerian leaders to go on these jamborees to Dubai while our own tourist industry languishes in ruins. Dubai is sold as a great destination because of its lovely weather which is similar to that of Nigeria. There is absolutely no reason why many of those weddings, parties, birthdays, AGMs etc they hold cannot take place at say Tinapa in Calabar, the Obudu Cattle Ranch, the Uyo Ibom Le Meridien Golf Resort, the Apex Holiday resort in Abuja or the La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort in Lekki, Lagos. Do you know that Muammer Gaddafi lived in an armoured tent until he had provided a home for every Libyan?

[10] There is a silver lining in every cloud, so let this Dubai restriction serve as a calling card. It should be wake up call to sort our domestic tourism industry out, create jobs in the sector and above all, end this irresponsible practice of consuming more than we produce. What right have governors who do nothing to diversify the economies of their states got to go on holiday to somewhere like Dubai that has? We cannot continue to be eternal consumers and expect to prosper