The Cross River State Government through its Tourism Bureau, has commenced the process of providing ₦10 Million bailout funds to businesses in the hospitality and tourism industry experiencing financial difficulty, to revamp the industry.
The Managing Director of the Cross River State Tourism Bureau, Mr. Ojoi Ekpenyong kick-started the process with the inauguration of a grant administration committee made up of state government industry players and selected representatives of the state’s chapter of Hoteliers Association.
Prior to the inauguration of the committee at a Tourism Stakeholders Consultative Forum in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, southern Nigeria, Mr. Ekpenyong said that the government was committed to the restoration of the industry, which suffered neglect during COVID-19.
Ekpenyong stated, “the governor of Cross River State, Senator Bassey Otu is determined to restore the tourism industry with the collaboration of the private sector. In the past eight years especially during the COVID-19 lockdown, a lot of businesses including hotels shutdown and since then have yet to recover coupled with the current economic downturn.
“It is based on these factors that Governor Otu pledge a Ten Million (₦10,000,000.00) Naira grant to Hoteliers to scale up their businesses. The desire of the government is to have hotels and others in the hospitality sector offer world class services. So, what we are doing here is to achieve that goal in partnership with the association,” he said.
Reacting to some pertinent issues raised by the stakeholders at the consultative forum regarding training, security, ease of doing business such as multiple taxes, the Managing Director said, “the governor is not aware of any arbitrary levies or taxes such as radio and television taxes. However, I can assure you all that the bureau is going to meet with all government agencies involved with tax collection with a view to harmonizing taxes.”
He reminded the stakeholders that the selection of beneficiaries for the grant would be predicated on registration, license and membership of the Cross River State Hoteliers Association.
Commendable Gesture
Some stakeholders at the consultative forum such as the Chairman of the Cross River State Hoteliers Association, Mr. Charles Ogar and the Vice President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria, Mrs. Justina Ovat in separate remarks commended the governor, Senator Otu for instituting a bailout fund to assist owners of hotels undergoing financial crises.
The stakeholders urged state actors to totally synergize with the private sector for a more vibrant the tourism industry as well as take deliberate steps to harmonize state and local government taxes and pledged their readiness to collaborate with the state government on training of personnel within the hospitality industry for efficient service delivery.
A longstanding tourism industry participant, Mr. Ray Ugba Murphy appreciated the governor for the decision to give One Million Naira grant to 10 selected hotels in Calabar, noting “in a depressed economy, a responsible and responsive government gives a boost to businesses because a lot of people, who have made investments over the years are weary of continuing to invest and that is why some hotels closed down to become hostels or rooming houses.
“So, the governor recognising this need to give confidence to the operators shows that the government is really committed to returning tourism to Cross River,” he said.
The forum had the theme: Empowering Hotels, Investing in Excellence – Our Commitment to Sustainable Tourism.