By Paul Ukpabio
Emotional unrest, doubt and wonder has trailed the anticipated release of 52 new tourism products by tourism ICON, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye.
It will be recalled that just after the recent celebration of World Tourism Day and Nigeria’s Independence Day, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye announced his readiness to drop on the laps of the tourism industry, 52 new products on the basis of one product a week for the next 52 weeks!
The information awakened a sleeping tourism industry, which had just recently found a full voice with the recent formation of a tourism ministry and the appointment of a tourism Minister.
But what has been the general reaction to this new feat of possible discovery of 52 new tourism products?
“Ofcourse that’s very innovative on his part,” said Taoreed Fatuyi, the President of Youth Tourism Club in Lagos. “The question however, to be asked is, do we have up to 52 tourism products out there for him to announce or showcase?”
To Okorie Uguru, a tourism writer cum journalist, “It is a welcomed development. Otunba Wanle Akinboboye has always been creative. And that is why he has excelled in the tourism industry in the last 40 years. It is my hope that our local tourism buy into this idea, we all await the release of these new products.”
Just like Taoreed Fatuyi, Mofoluwa Abiodun, a travel agent, chuckled in disbelief. I know and I’m aware as a tourism writer that Nigeria has tourism products to offer, but all of 52, where is the tourism ICON going to find them. Is he going to start a tourism journey from one village to another in Nigeria to find them?”
More questions than answers seems to be the trend as Otunba Wanle Akinboboye’s New Tourism Products are awaited. The mindset appears the same.
So we reached back to Otunba Wanle Akinboboye’s team for a possible update.
However, while the tourism ICON himself was unreachable, we were able to gather that activities towards the first announcement, is already in process, and already reaching to a crescendo.
One of the team members who pleaded anonymity told us that:
“As you are quite aware, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye cannot go back on his words. As at this moment, we are working on the release of the first tourism product, which will kick start the release of the whole 52 new products already lined up in the first series. We are aware that, tourism students, tourism teachers, lecturers, tourism industry topshots are already on the lookout. What I can assure is that, the tourism ICON is certainly set to deliver new tourism products every week Friday, for the next 52 weeks.
READ ALSO: https://paulukpabio.com/tourism-icon-otunba-wanle-akinboboye-set-to-create-52-tourism-products-on-a-weekly-basis/
