Akwaaba African Travel Market organiser, Ikechi Uko, has called for a consistent national strategy to grow domestic tourism in Nigeria, citing Kenya’s Tembea Kenya initiative as a model from which the country can learn.
Uko made the observation after attending a domestic tourism exhibition at Sarit Expo in Nairobi, Kenya, where he spent two days studying the country’s approach to promoting local travel and tourism consumption.
In an article following his visit, the tourism promoter said he had been studying domestic tourism development across Africa since the COVID-19 pandemic and had made it a major discussion point at the 2025 edition of Akwaaba African Travel Market.
He explained that his interest in Kenya’s model prompted him to visit the country to gain a better understanding of the policies, strategies and industry participation behind its domestic tourism growth.
“Why does Kenya lead in domestic tourism in Africa?” Uko asked, noting that Kenya’s Tembea Kenya initiative had made significant progress compared with South Africa’s Sho’t Left domestic tourism campaign.
He recalled that Akwaaba 2025 featured domestic tourism as its lead topic, with former Uganda Tourism Board Chief Executive Officer, Lily Ajarova, invited to speak on the subject.
According to him, his latest visit to Kenya also involved interviews with policymakers and tourism operators to understand the implementation, achievements and sustainability of the country’s domestic tourism programme.
Uko, who travelled from Mombasa to Nairobi for the exhibition, said the experience had reinforced his belief that Nigeria could significantly expand its domestic tourism market if it adopted a well-structured and sustained approach.
“It is not rocket science. Nigeria can scale its domestic tourism business to great heights. But there has to be a consistent plan,” he said.
He acknowledged previous efforts to stimulate local tourism through initiatives such as Naija7Wonders but maintained that more needed to be done to unlock the country’s domestic tourism potential.
His observations come amid growing interest across Africa in domestic tourism as a means of strengthening local economies, supporting tourism businesses, creating employment and reducing dependence on international visitor markets.
