The National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) has said it would hold its first Eastern Regional Summit in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state. Hope Ehogie, the National Vice President, NANTA, Eastern Region, disclosed this in Abakaliki while briefing journalists after their meeting with Governor Francis Nwifuru on Saturday. Ehogie said that they would partner with Ebonyi state Government with a view to boosting tourism in the eastern region, pointing out that Ebonyi State has huge untapped tourism potentials, adding that the tourism industry had the capacity of addressing the nation’s job deficits if well harnessed.
According to him, they had a fruitful deliberation with the governor during which it unveiled the plans it has to set the state’s tourism sector on a path of economic boom. He noted that leveraging the enormous tourism potentials in the state would lead to job creation, youth employment, poverty reduction and increase in revenue generation to the state. “We had a wonderful session with the governor of Ebonyi; he was open and welcoming, we had to introduce the association, the plans we have and how we have seen the potentials in Ebonyi.
“Now we are setting up a committee to bring strategic ideas on how to influence and bring in new narratives to Ebonyi to encourage tourism and people coming in, how to influence the inflow of the inbound tourism which we have seen a lot of potentials. “People think that when you talk of Ebonyi what they think about is in.