‘About 85% travel bookings in Africa is offline’

Joe Falter, founder of Jumia Foods and CEO Jumia Travels recently took a critical look at the Nigerian tourism industry and concludes that the industry is emerging. Joe who looked at the challenges confronting the industry also explained Nigeria Travel Nigeria campaign by his company and the aim of Nigeria Travel awards scheduled for February 1, 2018. Excerpts;

You have been in Nigeria several times, how would you describe Nigeria’s tourism sector?

It is really vibrant, there is very strong business travel sector.  The tourism sector is emerging in Nigeria. People have started renting their own places. I am impressed by the increasing quality of hotels and traveling experiences generally. For instance we are increasing our presence in flights and not just hotels. We have been able to partner with some great local airlines to deliver the best service to our customers. Though it is not the easiest country to travel to as there are Visa restrictions, infrastructure issues but overall, it is amazing place to travel to especially in terms of business.

What then would you say 2018 holds for Nigerian Tourism?

If I look at the numbers in 2017, tourism sector rose by 5% . Lagos is the largest city in Africa in terms of the number of rooms. If you look at hotels expansion plans, there were additional of 4,000 additional rooms in Lagos in next year, that is the biggest in Africa. Hotels are very bullish about what is happening in the travel market. For us, we plan to grow by 100% next year by number of bookings.

What is driving the increasing bookings?

At the moment, the travel market in Africa is very much driven by offline, that is traditional channels. People go to travel agency or ask for recommendations from their friends. About 85% to 90% of travel bookings in Africa is offline. This means that about 10 % is online.  It means that we can increase the share of online to about 50%. Again there is increase in domestic tourism as Nigerians are beginning to understand that there are places they can visit and buy things in Nigeria. This means there is increase in business travel domestically to the economy.

What are therefore the challenges hindering the further growth of the industry?

Nigeria is an expensive place to travel to because historically most travel to Nigeria is business travel. But that is starting to change. In the past, there were issues of getting Visas and Nigeria Visa is very expensive and it  takes time to get it. But that is starting to change. There hasn’t also been a lot of investment in tourism and tourism infrastructure. But now, hotels are refurbishing by adding new features.

Could you tell me more about your Nigeria-Travel-Nigeria campaign, what is all about?

The campaign is basically about encouraging Nigerians to take their holiday inside of Nigeria instead of outside the country. With the campaign, people are taking that option. Nigeria is a diverse country with massive cultural differences from one place to another. There are a lot Nigerians can discover about their country and that is what we are encouraging. We are expecting about 20% increase in bookings coming from that campaign alone.  Our share of bookings within Nigeria has increased from about 15 % to 30%.

You are organising African Travel Awards on February 1, 2018, what is it all about?

It is about celebrating the efforts and excellence the hotels put in to provide great experience to guests. We have 30,000 hotels we work with in Africa and they provide good experience. It is also providing a platform where they can network and meet with their peers. It is annual awards.

What do you think is the place of government in developing tourism especially in Nigeria?

The role is to help promote Nigeria outside Nigeria. It should also provide a level of infrastructure that allows tourism to be successful. Government should also reduce the barriers for genuine people who want to come to the country. When I am abroad, I want people to understand what Nigeria is all about and government has a big role to promote that because now, when people think Nigeria they only think business and hustle and bustling. Security is also important. Travellers should also have great experience at the airports as they land in Nigeria.

You entered into a partnership with NTDC, could you explain the deal?

The deal is basically a strategic alliance to help the organisation drive the tour Nigeria agenda. It is about transfer skills and technology to NTDC from Jumia and enhancing digital experience. The deal is PPP arrangement for better tourism experience.