By Mike Adeyemi
An expert in the hospitality industry, Engr. Yusuf Aliyu has charged the Kwara state government on the need to invest more on tourism centres across the state to put it on world map.
Aliyu who is the chairman of Monarchs Hotels stated this on Saturday during a chat with our reporter in his office.
According to him,’ it is unfortunate that much has not been done in the hospitality industry in Kwara State.’
“Hospitality industry in Kwara State is far below the expectations both in terms of investment and infrastructure. So there is huge gap and I think there is considerable room for improvement.
“The Kwara State Government should partners with players in the hospitality industry to raise the bar to the desire level,” he said.
He added that the government should lead the way toward making Kwara State ranked one of the best among its pairs in the hospitality industry.
“The Kwara State government can uplift the industry by first identify all the tourism centres in the state and partner with the industry by way of providing facilities that will support tourist centres.
“For instance, we have Owu Falls here in Kwara, it is comparable to Niagara Falls in Canada. But there is no access to Owu falls in Kwara State. The roads are not good.
“So if government is able to repair the road, am sure a lot of investors in hospitality will want to put hotels or resort centre in the environment. That is the kind of partnership am talking about, ” Aliyu stressed.
He said the government cannot do it alone but there should be a roadmap and that will bring a lot of investment and Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) to the state.’
“If government channel utmost resources into the industry, there is no how it will not increase the Kwara state IGR by 30 per cent because Kwara is centrally located.
“Kwara is quiet and everybody knows the state for it’s peaceful coexistence. So, it is going to be a major boost if we develop tourist destination in Kwara State. There is a lot of tourist attraction in the state,” the philanthropist affirmed.
