I receive over 2,000 tourists daily – Ooni of Ife

Ooni said this during a press tour organised to ascertain how far tourism had impacted on Ife community and its environs, ahead of the Tourism Innovation and Development Innovation Conference (TIDA) slated for April 24.

According to NAN, the theme of the conference is: Impact of Sustainable Tourism Development and Marketing of Tourism Destinations on Host Communities.

The monarch said that tourists from all over the world had been visiting the ancient town on a regular basis to know more about its culture making it a good reference point in domestic tourism.

Ogunwusi said that to keep the good record and history, there had been orientation programmes for the residents, adding that this was on how best they could be hospitable and familiarise themselves with the history of the town.

”Ife remains a tourist hub, the huge number of visitors I receive on a daily basis can attest to this.

”We want to ensure we do better in terms of hospitality, that is why we have continued to re-orientate our people on the essence of being hospitable,” he said.

Ooni also said that the town’s domestic tourism had greatly added positive impacts on youths.

”The positive effect of tourism is evident in Ife.

“A lot of our youths have benefited greatly; most of them have relocated abroad having groomed our tourism potential well enough.

”Some of our youths are now professional tour guides and curators, which remain their major source of income.

”Many of them have also embraced other businesses within the tourism value chain,” he said.

The Founder of TIDA, Mr Femi Lawson, said that the 2019 edition promises to rub off positively on individuals.

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”TIDA is set for the development of ideas that will add value to the promotion of tourism through tourism insurance, infrastructural tourism and the virtual tourism device.

” This will help market the nation’s tourism potential domestically and help increase traffic of international tourists into the country,” he said.

He said that as the theme of the conference suggests, Ife was picked to promote and give more awareness to its tourist sites as it is known to have rich cultures and tourism potential.