Association Cries Out Over NIHOTOUR’s Operations

The Nigeria Hotel Association (NHA) has cried foul over the activities of the National Institute of Hospitality and Tourism, which it said, if left unchecked, would adversely affect the sector.

This, the association alleged, is especially evident in the implementation of the NIHOTOUR Act 2022, which is against the nation’s constitution, which places tourism services under a residual body.

The national president of the association, Dr Patrick Anyanwu, raised the alarm while briefing newsmen in Owerri, Imo State on the agenda for the national executives and state chairmen parley

Anyanwu urged the federal government to halt the anomaly, which he said is antithetical to the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

Apart from creating jobs for the teeming unemployed youths and accommodating visitors across the globe, Anyanwu said that NHA is committed to repositioning the nation’s hospitality industry to an enviable height.

He urged hotel owners who have yet to register with the association to endeavour to do so at both the state and national levels without further delay.

“Our Association might be constrained to shut down Hotels that fail to register with us because we cannot continue to allow such Hotels to remain in business, since experience has shown that some of them use their establishments to commit crime.

As part of measures to actualise this, the NHA Boss said that the Association will use the services of security agencies such as the police, DSS, and the EFCC to whip recalcitrant Hotels into line.

“We are partners in progress with the government, and we are law–abiding, and we will not allow any of our members to embarrass us”.

In his contribution, National Vice President, North West, Ishaya Idi, called for collaboration among various government agencies with the Nigeria Hotel Association to serve the populace effectively.

He called on the government to ensure that no hotel is established without the association’s knowledge, as it understands the industry’s rules.