As the world marks International Tourism Day today, the federal government has restated Nigeria’s tourism potential, saying it was positioning the sector as a game-changer for economic growth, targeting over N7.2 trillion contribution to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while creating more than 2.5 million jobs by the end of 2025.
Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism, and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, who disclosed this to THISDAY, said tourism, given its added advantage of inexhaustibility, has the potential to rival and even surpass oil as a revenue source for Nigeria.
This year, the World Travel and Tourism Council projects that global travel and tourism would contribute approximately $11.7 trillion to the global economy, representing about 10.3 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).
This sector, it said, as a significant employer, would support around 371 million jobs worldwide.
Africa recorded a 12 per cent increase in tourism between January-June 2025 compared to the same period last year, the United Nations half year report on global tourism revealed recently.
