ECOWAS Moves To Strengthen Tourism With Critical Instruments

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has taken significant steps to reposition the tourism industry in the region with the aim to gain more from $9 trillion said to be the global worth of the Industry.

This move was to harmonise two instruments that are critical to the development of the sector which are the Regional tourism Policy (ECOUTOUR-19-29) and the Regulation about Classification of Hotels and Accommodation within the member states of West Africa.

This was the focus of the meeting of experts and stakeholders of the private tourism industry on the monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of the instruments, which commenced in Abuja on Tuesday.

Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture at the ECOWAS Commission, Massandje  Toure- Litse in her remarks  said the meeting “represents a pivotal moment in the advancement of sustainable tourism and economic growth as well as the preservation of our cultural heritage within the region.”

Represented by  acting director, Private Sector, Anthony Elumelu, the commissioner noted that the meeting drew inspiration from the ECOWAS ECOTOUR 19-29 Action Plan adopted by the Authority of Heads of States and Government of the ECOWAS to serve as a roadmap for promoting responsible tourism.

“To ensure effective implementation, we have established a regional monitoring and control mechanism that involves the ECOWAS, UEMOA, public institutions, private sector and local communities in this journey. Recently in July 2023, we took a significant step forward by adopting a regulation.

“This regulation outlines the criteria for classifying ECOWAS accommodation regulation, which oversees the classification of hotels and accommodation.  The success of these initiatives hinges on the active engagements of the private sector.

“The meeting this week is centred on drafting the operational modalities for the two critical tools and that is the ECOTOUR monitoring and evaluation mechanism and the ETA, which is the regulator.

“This mechanism will also play a pivotal role in shaping the future of tourism.  The ECOTOUR 19-29 monitoring and evaluation mechanism will involve developing operational guidelines and appointing dedicated members or what you regard as focal points to oversee its implementation.”

The director general of Nigeria’s National Tourism Agency, Folorunsho Coker in his remarks, urged the need for a solid foundation in the sector before any investment can be meaningful.

He told reporters in an interview that “we must build a solid foundation and that solid foundation is the corporate governance we are talking about, the regulation of the business, the legislation that the business requires to grow. You can put as much money as you want right now, but if you don’t have the right foundation you cannot grow.

“Tourism globally is a $9 trillion business. Africa attracts less than five per cent why?  We have 51 countries in UNWTO but we see capital fly from the West over Africa to the East and back.  So, it is time for us as a region in ECOWAS to collaborate not to compete, to enter a joint marketing and joint training campaign.

Stella Christian Drapo, Officer in charge of Tourism Programme at the ECOWAS Commission said the aim was to operationalize the two of major instruments in the tourism industry and build capacity for implementation.

In 2018, ECOWAS member states adopted the regional tourism policy which is an action plan. This document is called ECOTOUR 19-29, and then last in 2023, the member- states adopted a new regulation about hotel grading and classification and in this regulation is the regional mechanism to control how to certify and grade hotels in the region.