ENHANCING NIGERIANS’ TRAVELLING CULTURE by WALE ADETARAMI

Nigeria with a population of about 160 million is in western part of Africa. A sub-Sahara African country blessed with both human and natural resources.

Nigeria has 5 operational International airports, with Lagos airport as the second busiest airport in Africa and accommodating the major airlines in the world. There is direct flight from Nigeria to Morocco, Rwanda, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Ethiopia, Turkey, South-Africa, England, United Arab Emirate, France, Netherlands, Qatar, Germany and some more; and with a stopover or two, you can travel to any part of the world from Nigeria! So, what are you waiting for?

Statistics reveal that 90% of Nigerian travelers travel for businesses, exhibitions and conferences, while a meager 10% of them travel for holidays and tours. It is not that Nigerians do not like to travel; so many factors are keeping the majority back from exploring the world. Some of them are highlighted below:

Economic Situation / Cost of Travelling:

Most Nigerians are low income earners, a lot of people are underemployed, and people are battling to meet up with the necessities of life and for this, travelling abroad for holiday is a luxury. We cannot compare Nigeria and some other developing countries with the developed nations in terms of income and earnings.

Embassies Denying Visa Applications:

A lot of Nigerians who have genuine reasons for travelling have been denied entry visa by the embassies and consulates of the various foreign countries in Nigeria. This problem has to do with the improper ways of assessing applications. One little error (even in filling application form would not be verified) leads to outright denial. Everybody is talking about the image of Nigeria/Nigerians abroad, cases of abscondment is reported to be rampant and the embassies are being over protective of their countries/economies. In future, we will need to develop a proposal to the embassies to allow the travel agents be part of the visa processing, the agencies who have now been turned to mere ticketing offices would be saddled with the tasks of due verifications of information supplied by applicants. This would be done in an agreed time frame.

Employers:

It is worthy of note, that the few employers who pay good wages utilizes the time of their employees to the fullest, to the extent that they offer to pay cash in lieu of annual leave. In this scenario, there is enough money, but there is little or no time at all to go on vacation.

Lack of Travel information and Packages:

A lot of people who are willing and able to travel in terms of affordability often do not even hear of travel deals and packages, some of them are in the informal sector where they hardly make use of the print and electronic media, another set are those who believe travelling is for people who are relocating from the country for greener pastures overseas. They don’t really believe one can go to other country just to spend time and come back. In this case, a lot of work still needs to be done to sizzle them and arouse their interest.

Fear:

Aviophobia or aviatophobia (fear of flying)  is common not only in Nigeria but all over the world. These people don’t fly; though the statistics is not available right now, but it is a disadvantage to the business of travel and tour in Nigeria.

Frustration in getting Required Documents:

Some embassies will ask applicants to get tax clearance certificates, yellow fever immunization card, bank statement, letter from employer; copies of pay slip and so on. There is always this red tapism and bureaucracies surrounding the processing of these documents, frustration and ill-patient often make people look for alternative which at the end affect their applications negatively. Some people get tired halfway, when getting the documents is next to impossible. We must put structures in place, for instance, tax payers should be able to get clearance certificate as and when needed, banks, hospitals, employers should be careful and timely in granting requests that bother on travelling.

Stiff and Unjust Requirements;

Holiday makers get frustrated when you ask them to pay N750,000 bond to get a visa to a particular country. If this is not nipped in the bud, other embassies will come up with policies that are capable of killing the travelling and tour business.

Some Nigerian travels agencies have come up with initiatives to encourage holidaying and vacations, they have come up with packages that allow you to pay over a period of time, they have established links with the best travel companies in the world, through them you can enjoy your holiday and tours in about 285 resorts in Africa and 3,000 resorts in the rest of the world. They help you to book for your hotel/resort, airport transfer, buy your air-ticket, and give useful visa application assistance.

Some of the international airlines berthing in Nigeria daily are: Air France, KLM, Turkish Airline, Kenya Airline, Royal Air Maroc, South Africa Airline, Etihad Airways, Emirate Airline, Qatari Airline, Lufthansa, Arik Airline, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Iberial, Delta Airline, Eqypt Air, Ethiopian Airline, AirRwanda, etc.

WALE  is the CEO of, VOXDEI TRADE PROMOTIONS AND TRAVELS LTD

For enquiries and business, contact us via:

voxdeitp@gmail.com, +2347036308255

follow us on twitter: @TravelsNaija

69 FUN FACTS ABOUT FRANCE

1. There is a Victor Hugo street in every town in France.
2. It’s illegal to name a pig Napoleon in France.
3. Charles VIII had six toes on one foot and hid this fact by wearing and promoting square toe shoes.
4. The guillotine was the official method of execution during the French Revolution. It was invented by a surgeon named Dr. Guillotin.
5. France produces over 400 types of cheese!
Language:
6. French is the official language of many countries including: Switzerland, Canada, Ivory Coast, Luxembourg, Monaco, Congo and Niger.
7. The word “salut” means both “hello” and “goodbye”
8. French was the official language of England for over 300 years.
9. It’s the mother tongue of 75 million people worldwide.
10. It’s the second most commonly taught foreign language, after English.
11. It’s the official language of the United Nations.
12. It’s the only language (along with English) that’s taught in every country in the world.
13. Crayola is a French word that means “oily chalk”
14. At the time of the French Revolution, 75% of French citizens didn’t speak French as a mother tongue.
15. Non-French celebrities who speak French include: Jodie Foster, Johnny Depp, Diane Kruger, Elton John, Ewan Mcgregor, Halle Berry, Jackie O, Madonna, Mick Jagger, and John Travolta.
16. 34% of the French can speak English.
17. Between 6-11 million Americans speak French.
18. Mont-Blanc is the highest peak in Europe
19. The heir to the French throne was called Le Dauphin, which also means “dolphin.”
20. The French eat snails, frog’s legs and horsemeat.
21. In 1386, a pig was hung in France for the murder of a child.
Love and Romance
22. The number of times the French kiss each other as a form of greeting varies depending on region. In Corsica, the number of kisses can be as many as 5! (If you have a hot first date, you now know where to go)
23. According to a 2003 survey, the French have the most sex in a year (unsurprisingly!)
24. It’s illegal to kiss on railways in France (oops).
25. “French kiss” is a term by the English as a slur on the French culture which was thought to be overly concerned with sex.
26. In France, it’s called a tongue kiss or soul kiss.
27. French men have the lowest level of obesity in the EU, and women are second after Denmark.
28. The French have one of the highest life expectancies in the EU (I think there’s a strong correlation of this fact to #23)
29. First Lady Carla Bruni has been known to have a string of relationships with famous men including Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger and Donald Trump.

Travel, Culture, and Innovations
30. Coco Chanel’s real name was Gabrielle Bonheur.
31. France has the highest number of ski resorts.
32. The French had an early version of the internet called Minitel, where as long as 1984, they could pay bills and shop at home using the Minitel service.
33. France is the most visited country in the world with 75 million tourists yearly.
34. The first department store was founded by Aristide Boucicaut in 1838l
35. France has wont he most Nobel Prizes for Literature than any other country in the world, and the second most in mathematics.
36. France created the first universal declaration of human rights in 1789.
37. France ruled the second largest colonial empire in the world controlling 8.6% of the world’s land.
38. Famous French inventions include: the hot air balloon, the submarine, and the parachute.
39. In 2004, the French produced 56.6. million hectoliters of wine.
40. French liquers include: Grand Marnier, Triple Sec, Cognac, Armagnac, Pastis and Cointreau.
The French Revolution
41. The storming of the Bastille was more of a symbolic act. During that day, there were only 7 prisoners and 4 of them were there because of check forging.
42. “Let them eat cake” was a statement falsely associated with Marie Antoinette as it was created ten years before she was born.
43. The guillotin was last used in 1977.
44. It was during this time that the French invented the metric system.
45. More than 15,000 people were beheaded at the guillotine.
46. Louis XVI assisted in perfecting the guillotine.
Paris, the city of love
47. 20% of the French live in the Parisian region.
48. Nicknamed “city of lights,” lights actually refers to the number of intellectuals who live there.
49. Jim Morrisson and Oscar Wilde were buried in the Paris cemetery called Pere Lachaise.
50. The Eiffel Tower is painted every 7 years.
51. The Eiffel tower was originally intended to be dismantled and sold as scrap after its construction.
52. There are more Bretons (From Britanny) in Paris than in Britanny.
53. The oldest bridge in Paris is called Pont Neuf (new bridge).
54. The most visited attraction in Paris isn’t the Eiffel Tower (5.5 million), or the Louvre (5 million), but Disneyland Paris at 13 million people.
Misc
55. French film production is second in the world.
56. Napoleon was 5’6.
57. French toast and french fries aren’t French inventions.
58. The croissant was actually invented in Austria.
59. The ministry of health once tried to promote milk as the national drink of France (ha!)
60. France is about the same size as Texas, with twice the population of California.
61. France is home to 28 UNESCO World Heritage sites.
62. There are about 2 new cook books that are published everyday in France.
63. Drugstores in France usually have a neon green cross on the door57. French toast and french fries aren’t French inventions.
64. If you cross your glass with someone else when toasting, you will receive 7 years of bad sex.
65. Grasse, France is known as the Perfume Capital of the World.
66. About 20& of French territory lies outside Europe.
67. Wearing a white wedding dress is a French tradition which began in 1499.
68. France was originally named Lutetia.
69. It’s against the law to take pictures of police officers and police vehicles.

From: Confessedtravelholic