Chief Wanle Akinboboye, Founder, La Campaign Tropicana, has introduced the “Youth African Tourism Expedition” (YATE) programme to stimulate tourism businesses in Nigeria and Africa. Akinboboye, in a statement on Sunday said that YATE is the second of the 52 fresh tourism products at his finger tips which he would willingly offer the tourism industry, to stimulate business.
He said he had earlier presented Diaspora Nigeria Economic Recovery Programme (DNERP) as the first of such products. He urged the youth to embrace the programme for advancement of the tourism sector.
“We have decided to bring in a tourism product that will exhilarate the youth from ages 15 to 40, so that they can live a lifestyle they will grow with.
“YATE is a youth programme aimed at encouraging the youth to travel, have tourism experiences and explore Africa.
“YATE is designed for youths from age 15 to 40, undergraduates, young business executives and other fun seekers through creation of a camp in an eco friendly African themed environment.
“An environment spiced with team bonding exercises through games like swimming, aim the basket, catapulting, table tennis, live roasting-grilling of yam, plantain, barbecue, snooker and many more,” he said.
According to Akinboboye, YATE is available for young tourism entrepreneurs, because it offers a template for entrepreneurship in Nigeria, Africa and other countries. He said that he was making YATE available to young tourism entrepreneurs so that they could immediately use the programme to enrich themselves either as participants or as entrepreneurs.
“Those who register with us at info@lacampagnetropicana.com can go to schools, engage students for YATE and get their commissions.
“We intend to bring up the industry from the bottom to the top. That’s because YATE will give quick return and take away youths from restiveness and teach them lasting fun and a new lifestyle,” he said.
He noted that the real problem of tourism and the main reason it had taken the sector so long to grow in Nigeria, was due to lack of tourism education.
“As we all know that the platform we are all standing on today is the doing of yesterday’s men, the hardwork of yesterday’s men.
“The platform of tomorrow is our responsibility. Unfortunately, our forefathers did not have formal exposure to hospitality, recreation and tourism.
“We are trying to introduce youths to tourism, so that they will get to understand how lucrative it is and what tourism and information building is all about.
“Some of them will end up becoming ministers in government tomorrow,” he said.
Akinboboye, however, said the formal education they would get from YATE which is a practical tourism educational process will grow them.
“It is not what we are learning in the classroom but it is what we are experiencing in real life,” he said.
Source: The Guardian
