AKWAABA Team Visits Port Harcourt For BANTABA 2017
The Akwaaba African Travel Market Team Organizers of Port Harcourt BANTABA recently paid a visit to Rivers State, to meet with stakeholders.
Port Harcourt BANTABA is an event by the organizers of the annual AKWAABA African Travel Market; it’s aimed at reaching other states in Nigeria and exploring tourism potentials and as well marketing in smaller groups to the travel agents, tour operators and entire travelling public. It will offer states and country destinations a greater chance for detailed presentations, B2B sessions, Speed dating and more scheduled meetings with tour operators. BANTABA has been scheduled to hold 16th – 17th March 2017 at De Edge Hotel, Port Harcourt.
In order to empower hotels and Travel professionals in Nigeria, organizers of Port Harcourt Bantaba has included a TWO-DAY Master Class training for e-tourism including Trip Advisor, Facebook, Google and other online tools, even as it creates networking opportunities for the participants. The first day will be training on how to package inbound and outbound tours and admission for day 1 is free.
Port Harcourt BANTABA will also features Top 100 Hotels in Nigeria Awards. It is aimed at recognizing and celebrating hotels which have impacted positively on the growth and development of travel and tourism business in Nigeria through maintaining resilience, high quality in service delivery, excellence in operations, top class in infrastructure and steady progress in growth.
According to facebook post by Mr. Ikechi Uko on the visit, titled, Is Port Harcourt the most polite town in Nigeria? The outside view of Rivers state is that of a war zone so one was prepared mentally for a visit to meet with Stakeholders in Port Harcourt for the Bantaba 2017 event.
After a 3 hour delay at the Airport we arrived Port Harcourt and had the surprise of our lives. The Airport cab that picked us up didn’t know how to get to D Line our first port of call. We had the best assistance possible from passersby so much so that a lady actually drew a map for us on a piece of paper. The map was so accurate that I became the navigator for the driver.
The politeness continued with the heavyweights we visited. The GM of De Edge Hotel Madam Christine Plaatjies took time out to take us personally to some meetings. The Chairman BOT NANTA Oga Steve Isokariri also personally took us around to meet with travel agents and Airlines. The God father of Tourism in Nigeria Chief Mike Amachree also personally took us around PH after showing us his private Musuem and Zoo at the new Brooklyn Tourist Centre near Uniport.
Meetings with the ministry of Tourism, With Hoteliers Associations ,with Travel Agents and others in preparation for the first Port Harcourt Bantaba. We also met with managers of Golden Tulip Hotel,Hotel Presidential and our host De Edge Hotel.
Outside the soot and ash that is raining on the town I found Port Harcourt very exciting. The new roads makes movement easy. Coming back soon to meet with the Governor. Bantaba loading seriously. The Akwaaba team and the Atqnews team have done a good job so far, Sharing the Tourism experience in Nigeria.
Atqnesws is set to honour the Tourism Man of the Year for 2016 at Port Harcourt Bantaba, Other awards lined up are the Aviation Man of the Year, the Hospitality Personality of the Year, Travel Personality of the Year and the Hotel Man of the Year. The awards and recognitions are intended to distinguish Nigerians both in government and in the private sector who have distinguished themselves in moving the travel and tourism business forward in Nigeria.
