Nigeria’s globally celebrated Detty December festival is attracting attention across continents, but industry experts say the country is still missing out on a vast pool of international tourists due to deep-rooted perception and trust gaps.
Speaking at the Naija7Wonders Conference, the Chief Executive Officer of TravelWithSamGlobal, a Nigeria-based travel company, said recent business trips across Africa revealed a striking pattern: foreign tourists were eager to visit Nigeria but were discouraged by Nigerians themselves.
After meeting travel prospects and leisure tourists in Casablanca, Marrakesh, Addis Ababa, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Nairobi, the CEO said many Americans and Europeans had heard about Nigeria’s vibrant nightlife and Afrobeats-powered entertainment scene. Yet despite strong interest, most never made the trip.
“The issue wasn’t visas, flights or government policy,” he said. “It was Nigerians abroad advising them not to come.”
He described the trend as evidence that Detty December, despite generating over ₦100 billion and filling hotels and flights, remains largely a diaspora homecoming rather than a fully global tourism product. According to his research, more than 90% of visitors are Nigerians living abroad — driven by nostalgia and emotional ties rather than destination choice.
“What we have is not a demand problem; it’s a conversion problem,” he said.
He identified four major “conversion gaps” holding Nigeria back:
- Perception Gap — global narratives don’t match on-ground reality
- Trust Gap — fears around safety, scams and reliability
- Access Gap — travel logistics and friction points
- Experience Gap — poor structure, scheduling conflicts and unpredictable tourism products
He added that Nigeria also suffers from an internal belief crisis.
“You cannot sell a country you are constantly apologising for,” he noted. “We’ve become an unintentional filter against our own opportunity.”
Despite the challenges, he stressed that the missed visitors represent the next growth frontier for Nigeria’s tourism economy.
