Full text: Lai Mohammed’s address at the opening of UNWTO Global Conference

By JOHN MOMODU

ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND CULTURE, ALHAJI

LAI MOHAMMED, AT THE OPENING OF THE UNWTO GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON LINKING

TOURISM, CULTURE AND THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES: PATHWAYS TO RECOVERY AND

INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT,’ HELD AT THE NATIONAL THEATRE COMPLEX, IGANMU,

LAGOS ON 15TH NOVEMBER 2022

 

Protocol

 

I am most delighted to address this very important gathering and to

thank you all most sincerely for honouring our invitation to the

First-ever United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Global

Conference on ‘Linking Tourism, Culture and the Creative Industries:

Pathways to Recovery and Inclusive Development’.

 

2.  Your presence here today confirms the passion and the zeal of the

stakeholders to move these sectors forward. I am glad to see many

important personalities, experts, professionals and distinguished

industry representatives. Tourism, culture and the creative

industries, which are the focus of this conference, play critical

roles in the economies, prosperity and growth of many countries

globally.

 

3.  The purpose of this conference is to fast-track our objective of

transforming the tourism sector into a preferred sector, and the

creative industry into a creative economy. That is the overarching

objective, against the background of the government’s intention of

supporting and facilitating an enabling environment for the true

business growth of tourism and the creative industry.

 

4. The hosting of this conference is a strong affirmation of

Nigeria’s position as a trusted business hub, and a safe harbour for

capital, talent and intellectual property. In the lead-up to the

conference, Nigeria hosted the 2022 UNESCO Media and Information

Literacy Week in Abuja, from 24th to 28th October 2022. Through the

progressive scaling-up of our MICE events (with MICE here standing for

Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions), we intend to build

public confidence and increase our operational readiness to host

international events. The hosting of these events in quick succession

by the Nigerian government is also a testament to the increasing

readiness, safety and security of our cities to play host to global

events.

 

5.  This conference is very important in the history of the UNWTO and

Nigeria, because it marks the very first time that the organization,

in a single forum, is bringing together the three inter-linked sectors

of tourism, culture and the creative industries to highlight their

fundamental importance as effective tools for inclusive development

and drivers of sustainable growth. For Nigeria, the conference, which

has drawn participants from many member states of UNWTO, industry

players, international organizations, the academia and the media,

among others, presents an ideal opportunity to showcase our rich,

diverse and unparalleled tourism and creative assets, to do some

networking, learn new things and share knowledge.

 

6.  One of the key goals of this conference is to bring to the fore

sustainable solutions and innovative policies for the development and

enhancement of the symbiotic potentials of tourism, culture and the

creative industry. I am really excited about this conference and its

deliverables in highlighting and promoting these inter-linked sectors

that are sustainable and inclusive. Today, more than ever, tourism and

the creative industry, due to their economic viability, are in the

global spotlight and have their place at the forefront of national and

international development agenda. The creative arts is estimated to

generate annual revenue of over 2 trillion US dollars and accounts for

over 50 million jobs worldwide. According to a recent IMF report, the

entertainment and creative industry in Nigeria, which in the last

decade have experienced massive growth and international recognition,

account for 1.45% of Nigeria’s GDP. In 2021, the number of annual film

production stood at 2,500 with a projection of 22 million US Dollars.

The revenue from music is estimated at 73 million US Dollars (with

annual growth rate of 13.4%). In a similar vein, fashion contributes

over 6.1% to global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), averaging between 2%

and 7% of national

GDP around the world. These sectors contribute to the growth,

resilience and recovery of the economy of societies and well-being of

individuals.

 

7.  Prior to Covid-19, travel and tourism had become one of the most

important sectors in the world economy, accounting for 10 percent GDP

and more than 320 million jobs worldwide. However, the global pandemic

led to the loss of millions of jobs, as it affected micro, small and

medium sized enterprises. The good news is that the recovery of the

travel and tourism sector is well underway. According to the latest

UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourism got back to 60%

of pre-pandemic levels between January and July 2022. It said

international tourist arrivals almost

tripled from January to July 2022 (+172%), compared to the same period

of 2021. This means the sector recovered almost 60% of pre-pandemic

levels. The steady recovery reflects strong pent-up demand for

international travel as well as the easing or lifting of travel

restrictions to date (over 86 countries had no COVID-19 related

restrictions as of 19 September 2022), the barometer showed.

 

8. Your Excellencies, this meeting provides an excellent opportunity

to discuss ways and means to promote intra-Africa travels and tourism,

leveraging on our vast and unique resources and our number, for mutual

benefit to all member states. It is my expectation that this meeting

will also serve as a platform towards establishing stronger linkages

and functional collaboration among member states in order to realize

the potentials which the continent is endowed with.

 

9.  This conference will equally provide the stakeholders the

opportunity to discuss linkages and opportunities between tourism,

cultural and the creative industry, and engage in business-focused

discussions, with a view to initiating private sector-led growth and

development of tourism and the creative Industry. It is also a

platform to dialogue and engage with key industry personnel on the

business of the creative sector, while addressing key issues affecting

the sectors such as

investment, capacity-building gaps, product development, marketing and

digitalization; Intellectual property rights, piracy, education,

poverty, power supply, security, access to finance, distribution

infrastructure, technical competence, film content, multiple taxation

and multi-level regulation, among others.

 

10.  On our part, we have long identified the creative industry,

tourism and culture as sectors critical to the diversification of our

nation’s economy away from oil. We regard the creative industry as the

new oil. But now, when added to tourism and culture, we see these

three sectors as not just the new oil, but also the new gold! This

realization explains why we have paid much attention to the sectors.

We have given much visibility to our cultural sector, and one of the

fallouts of this is our successful campaign to repatriate our

much-coveted artefacts, which were looted and taken to different parts

of the world. Hundreds of these timeless works of art are currently

being repatriated to Nigeria, in a reflection of our successful

campaign. We have brought our creative industry to the front burner of

our economy, highlighting the contributions of music, film, fashion,

gastronomy, etc to the national economy. Of course, culture and

creative industry are drivers of tourism. We have been resourceful in

driving our Digital Switch Over (DSO) in broadcasting, knowing how

critical this is to the creative industry. And we have breathed life

into the hub of our arts and entertainment, the National Theatre,

which is getting its first makeover in over 40 years, thanks to a

collaboration between the Federal Government and the private sector,

specifically the Bankers’ Committee, which has injected $100 million

into the renovation efforts. The outcome is what you see today – an

iconic edifice reclaiming its lost glory. And this is just the first

phase. When completed, there will be four new hubs for music, film,

fashion and IT – and a new dawn for cultural tourism, arts and

entertainment

 

11.  Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, as the

significance of the creative economy continues to grow, important

synergy with tourism is emerging, offering considerable potential to

grow demand and develop new products, experiences and markets. These

new links are driving a shift from conventional models of cultural

tourism to new models of creative tourism based on intangible culture

and contemporary creativity. There are clear and strong intersections

between the sectors. The creative innovation fuels new models of

cultural consumption, and explores the wide range of technical and

allied industries that scaffold the tourism and creative industries.

 

12. Learning from the pandemic, I think we can and should seize the

long-term opportunities offered by the creative economy, which is very

often underestimated in terms of impact on sustainable growth, impact

on jobs and impact on the development of societies. A very important

dimension of tourism and the creative economy is that they are sectors

that employ more young people than any other field, and this is why we

believe that tourism and the creative industry are at the heart of

pandemic recovery plans, and why the UNWTO is committed to placing the

sectors high on international agenda.

 

13.  With our safe travel and safe event protocols, we are

determined, as a country, to strengthen our position as a key business

hub in the region. We welcome local and global guests to meet and

connect in Nigeria, while enjoying a seamless and safe end-to-end

experience.

 

14.  Finally, we need a better understanding of the economic impact

of these inter-linked sectors, as well as of the impact on GDP and on

jobs, because very often people do not realize that these sectors can

be more important than many heavy industries, and they would never

guess that those jobs were created by the cultural sector. So, we need

to put the numbers on the table, with a view to having an

international roadmap to better support tourism and the creative

industry, and national strategies for the countries that are engaged

in this area.

 

15. On this note, I welcome you all once again, and I thank you for

your kind attention