AS preparations for the Nigeria Travel Week gathers momentum, organisers of the travel and tourism trade event have announced nominees for the Balearica Awards.
The award forms part of activities slated for the four days gathering that is geared at promoting Nigerian tourism both for the domestic and foreign markets as well as tourists.
Speaking at the media conference held during the week, the chief executive officer of Nigeria Travel Week (NTW), Efetobo Awhana, who is also the CEO of Avantgarde Tours, said the award which is to reward, recognise excellence and those who have made immense contributions to Nigeria tourism, would transform the face of tourism, insisting that it is a unique one.
Promotion of tourism
He explained that the choice of Balearica, which is the name of Nigeria’s national bird on the coat of arms, is symbolic in that it is used for the promotion of tourism, adding that they adopted the name as the brand name and symbol for the award, an indication of the overall mandate and focus of NTW.
According to Awhana, the award categories are divided into 24 sections with 20 of the categories to be voted for by the public and the votes vetted by a private auditing firm while four of the categories are not to be voted for by the public but selected by the organisers based on the contributions made by the people so honoured.
Speaking on other aspects of the event, which is billed to hold between November 20 – 25 in Lagos, the chief operating officer of NTW, Toni Ukachukwu, who is also the managing director of Afro Tourism, said that they have secured strategic partners for the event.
He said the partners include the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) and SKAL International Lagos.
Ukachukwu also revealed that there will be a post-event tour to various parts of Lagos, adding, “other events taking place during the Nigeria Travel Week include The Tourism Cup holding at Ikoyi Club golf course, which is a golf tournament to harness the power of golf in promoting tourism.”
