Imo to partner investors for hospitality, tourism development

Imo State Commissioner for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mazi Uche Ohia, has given indications that the State would engage investors in a Public-Private-Partnership, PPP, arrangement to further develop the tourism and hospitality sector of the state’s economy
Mazi Uche Ohia gave the indications at the Arinta Waterfalls Resort in Ipole Iloro community of Ekameta LGA of Ekiti State during his visits to major ecotourism sites and facilities in Ekiti State as a part of his engagements during the 2021 National Festival of Arts and Culture, NAFEST.
Noting that Tourism was capable of funding the annual financial plans of states if the potentials in the sector were developed, Mazi Ohia said “Imo State Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts is working to provide all enablers to make Imo a fertile ground for private investments in tourism”. The Commissioner disclosed that “a tourism road map for Imo State is in the works and the Ministry has structured mutually beneficial partnerships with operators in all the value chains in tourism; we are updating the baseline data to capture all tourism facilities and services in the state in an electronically retrievable form”, he added.
Mazi Uche Ohia described the seven-level Arinta Waterfalls as magnificent noting that many states in Nigeria had begun to concession major tourist sites to private investors to boost the sector.
At Ikogosi meeting point of warm and cold springs, Mrs Adeyeye Akolade, Chief Tour Guide of Ikogosi Warm Springs, told the Commissioner that the spring was discovered about seven hundred years ago by a hunter.
Mazi Uche Ohia noted that Ikogosi Spring was “a lovely place with a lot of potentials for tourism development”, and commended Ekiti State Government for concesioning the spring to a private investor.
The Commissioner who was accompanied to the sites by the Permanent Secretary, Imo State Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Sir T.U.C Nwokonkwo; the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Tourism, Chief Ilechukwu Eke; Director Imo State Council for Arts and, Assumpta Akujobi; the Head of Department of Culture in the State Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Josephine Oguike; and some of his aides stated that the tour of the concessioned tourist sites in Ekiti State would add to Imo State’s knowledge on private public partnership in the tourism and hospitality sector especially now that the state was looking to partnering the private sector on development of some major ecotourism sites.