The President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), Mr. Nkereuwem Onung Badaki, has charged both the government and the private sector to prioritise recovery, growth, and strategic partnerships to accelerate the development of Nigeria’s tourism industry.
Badaki gave the charge in his 2026 New Year message, where he noted that the year holds significant promise for both Nigerians and the tourism sector.
While welcoming stakeholders into the New Year, the FTAN president extended warm greetings to practitioners, investors, advocates, and all players within Nigeria’s tourism ecosystem, describing 2026 as a critical turning point.
“This new year greets us not merely as a continuation of our journey, but as a decisive moment; one that calls for alignment, execution, and collective responsibility,” he said.
Badaki expressed appreciation to members of the Nigerian tourism community for their resilience in the outgoing year, despite the challenges confronting the sector and the nation at large.
“I begin by expressing my profound appreciation to members of the Nigerian tourism family. Your resilience, commitment, and belief in the sector despite economic headwinds, regulatory pressures, and structural constraints remain the backbone of our industry,” he stated.
He also acknowledged Nigerian tourism ambassadors at home and in the diaspora for projecting the country’s culture, hospitality, and identity on the global stage.
According to him, 2025 was a commercially difficult year for many operators but would be remembered as a period of groundwork and recalibration.
“There is no denying that 2025 was a challenging year commercially for many operators. However, history will record it as a year of rebuilding trust, strengthening engagement, and reopening critical lines of collaboration between Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), international development partners, and the organised private sector,” Badaki said.
He noted that the renewed collaboration achieved in the latter half of 2025 has laid the foundation for a more coordinated and purpose-driven tourism economy.
Within this context, Badaki said the Tourism Transformation Mandate (TTM) has become both relevant and urgent, stressing that it is more than a slogan.
“The TTM is a call to action anchored on policy alignment, private sector repositioning, investment readiness, human capacity development, destination competitiveness, and measurable outcomes,” he said, adding that it reflects a collective resolve to move Nigerian tourism from potential to performance.
He emphasised that 2026 must be a year of recovery, consolidation, and growth, where policy frameworks translate into operational clarity, partnerships evolve into co-investment, standards replace informality, and data and professionalism drive decision-making.
According to him, tourism must assert itself as a serious contributor to GDP diversification, job creation, and national branding.
Badaki reaffirmed FTAN’s commitment to the transformation of the sector, noting that the federation will continue to serve as a unifying platform for advocacy, engagement, capacity building, and strategic collaboration.
He also acknowledged ongoing challenges such as rising operating costs, regulatory overlaps, security perceptions, infrastructure gaps, skills shortages, and ease-of-doing-business concerns, describing them as opportunities to reset systems, strengthen governance, and rebuild confidence across the tourism value chain.
Urging stakeholders to move forward with mutual respect, Badaki said every player, regardless of size, has a role to play and a responsibility to uphold industry standards.
He tasked stakeholders to collectively commit to making Nigeria a destination of choice by leveraging the country’s diversity as strength, its culture as capital, and its people as its greatest asset.
