By Abba-Eku Onyeka Abuja
The management staff on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), and Google have collaborated in the area of capacity building.
This latest development was contained in a release from the Corporation yesterday.
The capacity building programmes which took place recently at the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) Headquarters in Abuja showcased how tourism can integrate digital technology to market and promote tourism in line with global best practice.
The Google team was led by Head, Public Policy and Government Relations West and Francophone Africa, Miss Tita Akinsanmi.
In a remark, the Director-General (DG), NTDC, Mr Folorunsho Cooker said that the collaboration, would go a long way Corporation, adding that it was the second time the staff of NTDC have benefitted from Google’s training.
Coker, said that capacity building and staff welfare were the priority on his agenda in repositioning and promoting domestic tourism in the country.
He, however, added that the staff of NTDC were important stakeholders in the tourism value chain, with the reason that they were the implementers of the Corporation’s strategic imperatives. The DG said that the need for the training was for them to possess technical know-how and skills to drive the development of the Nigeria’s tourism industry, even as he added that it was high time Nigerians told their stories to the world digitally as the world is undergoing dramatic reforms in digital technology.
Also in a remark, the Google Resource Personnel, Mr.Ogundele Olumuyiwa Caleb noted that the partnership between Google and NTDC had been an all-embracing and indeed multi-faceted as it had impacts on all aspects of tourism development. He assured that Google would invariably continue to do its part towards the sustainable development of tourism in Nigeria. “The overall objective of this training is to equip the participants with the requisite digital skills to conceptualize and articulate targeted marketing strategies with a view of attracting a broad spectrum of tourists and create the conditions to evolve into a world class destination”, he said.
Speaking on behalf of the participants, Mr. Nuhu Auwalu, Deputy Director of procurement unit of the Corporation commended the DG and Google for the initiative while thanking them for the partnership.“On behalf of the top management staff, I want to appreciate the DG for his pro-activeness towards the welfare of the NTDC staff, we are very happy. This training came at the right time as this year’s World Tourism Day (WTD) theme is Tourism and the Digital Transformation,” he stated.
