October 5, (THEWILL) – His Royal Highness, Oba Adeyemi Obalenlege, will be present at the 18th Akwaaba African Travel Market, as the Royal Guest of Honour.
A tourism enthusiast, Oba Obalenlege, had earlier practised as a Tourism Journalist with Thisday Newspaper, before going for PhD in the United Kingdom.
Since his ascension to the throne, he has been identified with many tourism events in Nigeria.
This was disclosed in an official statement of the Akwaaba African Travel Market, issued by the founder, Ambassador Ikechi Uko.
According to him, Oba Obalenlege will be joined by the Minister of Tourism of Sierra Leone, Dr Memunatu Pratt.
Dr Pratt will be winning an award as the Best Tourism Minister in West Africa. Since she became the Minister, her profile had risen and her effort to promote Sierra Leone had earned her global recognition with her appointment to the UNWTO Committee.
She will be joined by women of high influence from over 25 countries in Africa, for the Africa Travel 100 Women awards.
Among them will be the Lagos State Commissioner of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Pharm Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf and the LAMATA CEO, Engineer Abimbola Akinajo.
The duo emerged as top winners in the Leadership category of the Africa Travel 100 Women’s Award for the 2022 edition. The Tourism leadership Category winners include
Ministers of Tourism from South Africa, Tanzania and Sierra Leone.
According to the organisers, the winners emerged through public online votes, while the judges chose others – 70% of the winners were selected by judges, while the public chose 30% through online votes.
Uko said the Africa Travel 100 Women’s award will be held on October 31st, at the Eko Hotels Convention Centre, Eko Hotels & Suites, Lagos, as part of the 18th Akwaaba African Travel Market event.
“First held in September 2017, the Africa Travel 100 Women Awards recognise African Women who have excelled in the area of Travel and Tourism. Every African Woman in the Travel and Tourism Business qualifies for these Awards. There was the initial shortlist of 30 excellent African Women chosen by some of the Judges.
The commissioner has been at the forefront of driving tourism growth in the forefront of driving the growth of tourism in the state with many lofty projects to restart tourism after the pandemic. Lagos is the only state in Nigeria that has formulated a formulated tourism Masterplan for the sector.
The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority LAMATA has invested heavily in infrastructural facilities in the state’s transport sector, ensuring the seamless movement of Lagosians. The firm recently launched LAGBUS, and LAGFERRY and will soon commission the Lagos Blue Light Rail project in December. LAMATA has some of the biggest investments in infrastructure in Africa, building 2 Rail Lines at the same time. These are the biggest fast rail projects in West Africa.
The 2nd edition of the Award will again recognise African Women who have excelled in the area of Tourism Leadership, Travel & Tours, Aviation, Hospitality, Conservation & Advocacy, Youth, Media, and World Travellers.
In September 2017, over 100 Travel Professionals from different countries converged in Lagos, Nigeria, for the first edition of the Africa Travel 100 Women Awards.
The winners came from over 20 countries. It was the first time African Women in Aviation, Hospitality, Tourism and Leadership had come together to network and fraternise at an event of such magnitude.
The event at the 13th Akwaaba African Travel Market created a lot of relationships and partnerships that still stand today, bringing Africans much closer.
The Organisers are of the view that the best way to bring Africa out of the 2 years of the pandemic experience is to rebuild old partnerships and build new ones.
The reunion will bring together winners of the 2017 edition and new winners of the 2022 edition.
The Organisers of the Biggest Travel and Tourism Expo in West Africa have decided to give a lot of attention to Medical Tourism and Health Insurance at the 2022 Edition of the Event. This is because of the increasing importance of Medical Tourism in Africa.
Turkiye is fast becoming the most popular destination for Medical Tourism with its top-grade facilities and world-class care system.
The Turkish Hospitals and Professionals will be joining Hospitals from UAE, India and other Asian countries at the first Major Medical Tourism event in Nigeria at the 18th Akwaaba.
African and Nigerian Health Management Organisations and Specialists Hospitals are expected to join them for this event. These African Hospitals will interact and learn from these international players on how they can scale their operations to attract both domestic and international medical tourists.
About the Author
Janefrances Ebere Chibuzor is a Tourism Writer at THEWILL
