Home » Africa: Nigerian Tourism Stakeholders Advocate Easier Visa on Arrival and More Standard Hotels to Boost International Visits

Africa: Nigerian Tourism Stakeholders Advocate Easier Visa on Arrival and More Standard Hotels to Boost International Visits

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Nigerian Tourism Stakeholders

A few years back, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) implemented a visa-on-arrival policy aimed initially at attracting investors to Nigeria.

Over time, this policy expanded to include tourists and other visitors, enhancing access and encouraging international engagement with the country.

According to thisdaylive.com, Initially the condition to secure visa on arrival in Nigeria was too stringent and the cost of the service was very high compared to other countries, but over time, Immigration began to relax some conditions, especially the high cost, which currently ranges from $110 to $160, which is still high when compared to the cost in other African countries.

Tourists are therefore calling on the federal government to further liberalise Visa on Arrival, to enable more tourists and other visitors gain easy access to Nigeria.

According to the Nigeria Immigration Service, to be eligible for Nigeria Visa on Arrival, the applicant must meet certain requirements, which include frequent traveller or a high net worth individual; must have a valid passport with at least six months validity beyond the date of arrival in Nigeria; must have a return ticket or an onward ticket and must have proof of accommodation in Nigeria.

Other conditions include that he must have a pre-approval letter issued by the Nigeria Immigration Service; must have a recent passport photograph; must have a contact person or address in Nigeria; must have a valid e-mail address and must have a valid credit card to pay for the visa fee.

READ: Africa: Tourism stakeholders in Oyo state congratulates Governor on his re-election, urged to prioritize Tourism in the state

Travel expert and organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market, Ambassador Ikechi Uko, commended the Nigerian Immigration Service for reducing the cost of the visa but said that the agency needed to soften down on the other conditions in order to encourage more people to visit Nigeria as tourists.

He told THISDAY that Rwanda, Benin and The Gambia have fully liberalised Visa on Arrival process for Africans visiting those countries and recently Ghana announced that if you are African, you don’t need visa to visit Ghana and the new policy ought to take effect from January 2025. So, if Nigeria can open its door further it may not insist on high net worth individuals, frequent traveller or prior letter from Immigration. It was learnt that most people who travel for tourism may not be high net worth individuals but ordinary people who save up money to travel to different countries during holidays or during their leave.

Nigeria has many places to travel to but many of such places need further development and whether Nigeria has the hospitality facilities to accommodate more foreigners and Nigerians in diaspora when they visit, Ambassador Uko said that Nigeria may need to build more standard hotels in the categories of three, four and five star hotels. He said that there were lots of bed and breakfast and short let hospitality facilities in Nigeria but the country needs to build more standard hotels.

“Capacity is where the problem is. Nigeria needs to have standard hotels like three, four and five star hotels to accommodate more tourists. We have B and B facilities, short let apartments but when it comes to regular hotels, we are not there yet,” he said.

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