The team lead of a destination management outfit, the owner of the Ufitfly brand, Evang Ajibola Ogunkeyede has congratulated Oyo State Gov. Engr. Seyi Makinde on his re-election for the second term as the executive governor of the state, while urging him to take leverage more on the hospitality and tourism sectors to boost the economy of the state.
Ogunkeyede in a statement issued and made available to newsmen in Ibadan commended the peaceful and the alluring disposition of Engr. Makinde to the electoral process which he believed responsible for his landslide victory, but advised him to create more enabling atmospheres for cross-cultural tourism to strive in the state.
Evangelist Ogunkeyede averred that the Ufitfly brand is a good ambassador of Oyo State because it has grown to become the biggest player in the Christian pilgrimage sector in Africa with many awards of recognitions for unblemished records in moving Christian pilgrims from Nigeria to Israel and Jordan.
“I want to believe that the governor has done well to earn the trust of Oyo State people which was evident in the way he was massively re-elected, hence we will like to see a good collaboration with the state government in the area of boosting the hospitality, sports-tourism and pilgrimage sectors.
“This significantly is aimed at promoting cultural assets for national pride, deploying our diverse and rich experiences and resources aimed at helping the government combating the vices such as youth restiveness, insecurity, unemployment etc with hospitality, sports-tourism and pilgrimage”.
The popular tour broker said sports is now a money spinning venture and a key component of tourism which brings some significant benefits to the destinations that sports’ event are hosted, with economic boosts, both direct and indirect, being among these advantages, saying our government is yet to take full advantage of this.
Ogunkeyede added that the direct spending by sports tourists at host facilities, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues stimulates the local economy, and Jobs are created, and tax revenue is earned.
He however, called on Gov. Makinde that had rebuild the Lekan Salami Sports Complex into an international standard to complement the good deed by ensuring a synergy between sports and tourism which fall under five categories: sports participation, sports training, sporting events, tourism with sports content, and luxury sports travel.
Adding that if the youths are properly managed through active engagement in sports and a good collaboration is fashioned out between sports and tourism, the state and the country will maximally generate great revenues that will surpass what is derivable from oil.
