Oyo State governor, Engr ‘Seyi Makinde has taken over the supervision of the state’s Ministry of Tourism for the purpose of building a strong economy that can fund itself and the future of the state.
The governor who announced a major shift in the state’s handling of tourism development at the International Tourism Summit Oyo State 2025, held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, disclosed that government was launching a Tourism Reset Agenda.
The agenda comprised new blueprint on how the state would partner, deliver and communicate tourism.
According to Governor Makinde, tourism is not an after-thought for the state, but rather, a strategic lever for development.
Welcoming investors, Makinde noted that the convening of the summit showed that heritage had value and that tourism was a serious business in which Oyo State must no longer be left behind.
The three-day summit with the theme: “Invest in heritage, leave a legacy,” began on July 22 with the tour of tourist sites in Oyo zone, followed by a tour of tourist sites in Ibadan zone on July 23, and ended with the investors’ summit, where investors in the tourism sector and key players took part in pitch presentation, exhibition tour and panel discussion which had “Heritage as capital: Reimagining Africa’s Cultural Assets for Sustainable Growth’ as topic.
