TheCable

South Africa as a nation is peopled by warriors. Their forefathers, new political and economic leaders are also warriors looking for new frontiers to conquer. First, we heard about their legendary battle with white supremacists and economic exploiters, white men who want to reap where they did not geographically belong and who believes that anything in black is evil.

It was a battle that began as a political quest and later became and turned into a cultural weapon. At Festac 77, the great depth and rich culture tourism potentials of black South Africa came to fore, propelled a new movement and love for this nation where hospitality was a natural phenomenon. Ipi Tombi, that huge assemblage of beautiful creative men and women in warrior dance and song blew the hearts of Africa, particularly Nigerians to the land of gold and mineral resources.

There was no doubt that Nigeria fought the battles of black South Africa but in truth, the South Africa helped themselves while the guns raged. Where possible, black South Africans children in Soweto led the protest for emancipation while the Mariam Markeba’s of this world toured the world, putting on display the power of culture and black music to showcase the political rot inside South Africa.

Anyway, that was years ago and at independence, the black South African leaders with great Mandela in charge worked hard to bring the world to a new black South Africa, showcasing once again their strength in culture, sports and tourism. From every nation and people, South Africa under Mandela positioned this nation of gold and silver as a land of hospitality and friendship.

The sympathetic world, a people looking for where to truly find true homeliness, love and appreciation for nature thronged the land. At first, it was a game played on the turf of “seeing is believing” and later opened up to creative and man-made luxury offerings in resorts, hotels and hill-top heavenly transformation. South-Africa suddenly but strategically became the bedrock of African tourism destination.

Though the “conquered” white South Africans still runs the economic show, the truth remains that tourism brought the average black South African person and village on the global map and systematically redistributed wealth across demographic strong holds. In the past two decades, this quest to bring the world, particularly black Africans, Nigerians in particularly took root, targeting the unexplainable thirst of Nigerians from all works of life to discover new things and the emerging new world.

it was reckoned by the drivers of South African tourism that Nigeria with over 180 Million travel hungry people with huge disposable income then and even now despite recession, would be a gold mine to add to their tourism investment profile in case the “white travelers” decides to look elsewhere.

Eye on Nigeria

The testing water pushed forward to gauge the Nigerian spirit and love for the outdoor and new destination, is the high flying South African Airways. Its pilots were strategically white but the hospitable air crew (hostess) was beautiful black damsels. The airline is proudly South African and was so pushed and promoted into the travel plans of Nigerians and it was magic.

Nigerians flew the airline, became its unofficial marketers and spokespersons and before you know it, the exploitative European airlines were struggling to maintain their hold. Nigerians got introduced to the beauty of Oliver Tambo Airport, hill-top bed of roses of Pretoria and the bustling jo’burg. To United Kingdom, America, Asia and the Arab world, the all conquering Nigerian business men, and education hungry students and their parents routed their air travel connections through South – Africa.

And with Nigerian Airways dead and buried, Nigeria embraced a “brother” airline in South African Airways and sooner than later, egged on and craftily manipulated through creative marketing communication mantra to see a new Nigeria, recreated in Mandela’s Black South Africa this place became a second home to Nigerians and a tourism bees haven to Nigeria’s emerging new Cultural influencers, fame peddlers, cranks and students of South African history and thieving government officials and their military gangs.

Indeed, Naira suddenly became a second South African currency, with Nigerians aggressively displacing anything in sight in Jo’burg and everywhere. South – Africa Airways became over booked round the clock and flew into Lagos and Abuja more than any airline of African decent. This success story gave birth to South African Tourism, a better replica of Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation, (NTDC).While SAT is revered and appreciated by South – Africa government, NTDC particularly in the past three years, became a sore thumb and a disgrace.

While SAT has a strategic and tourism barometer office in Lagos, with eyes over the west coast, NTDC is never known to dream in that direction. At global tourism markets, SAT always stand at the head or entrance of Africa pavilion, while Nigerian delegates holes up in kiosks. That was before Otunba Segun Runsewe happened on the scene and changed the narratives.

Last week, SAT new man, sisa Ntshona was in Nigeria to “deepen” relationships. Nigerian former NTDC boss was kicked out for chewing & swallowing MOU agreement with a private sector operator and for brandishing fake tourism statistics that cannot fly in face of serious scrutiny across Nigeria’s troubled tourism frontiers.

How Nigeria Response to SAT Failed

The South Africans, head high and pompous took Nigeria for granted. It was all the way to south for marriages, conferences, Parties and medical tourism and it got into their heads and the once respectful black South Africans now look at Nigerians, their once benefactors as no good and idiots.

In 1999 or there about, the South African Tourism rolled out a sponsored television commercial on NTA prime time and took Nigeria and her people to the cleaners. They paid huge sums of Naira, dipped the deal in free luxury all expensive paid stay to lure top Nigerian artists, top businessmen and women and even students to cast Nigeria down as a dead tunnel where nothing works, the people cranks and 419. Nigeria responded aggressively and the South Africans apologized and pulled off their very insulting adverts.

Otunba Segun Runsewe who then was DG, NTDC took the battle to SAT in South Africa. After calling a World Press Conference to warn off the South Africans on the unfair trade tactics, Runsewe visited the SAT egg heads in Jo’burg and in no unmistakable terms, told the rampaging South Africans that Nigeria would expose their underbelly, particularly the daily and open robberies targeted at visitors in South Africa and their unreported second fiddle black South Africans position in every area of life.

For once, Nigeria like lion of Judah roared through Runsewe who also at the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 brought great innovation such as Nigeria cultural village with the best dedicated faces in Nigerians music, arts, culture and hospitality descending on South Africa tourism spaces.

Runsewe’s effort paid off and SAT big guns took note. At subsequent world travel markets such as ITB, WTM London, FITUR in Madrid, Nigeria tourism under Runsewe did not pretend that it has not come to displace SAT on the tourism top rank in Africa.

It was a message that sank and as it is said on the streets in Nigeria, SAT became “gentle”, and respectful. However, Nigeria as usual gave the advantage back to SAT in 2013 when Runsewe was removed on political grounds. SAT came back strong and now is fully entrenched in Nigeria, strategically making inroads to other west coast states in Africa.

SAT Tourism Grants – a Greek gift?

While NTDC or Nigeria government particularly, do not provide grant to tourism operators in Nigeria, South Africans does provide grant and training for Nigeria tourism operatives. In the past four years, SAT has gone beyond providing study tours and full sponsored visits to South Africa tourism sites, to systematically providing grants and other freebies to empower small time operators in Nigeria.

The way is to invest time, money and exposure to best tourism promotion trade practioners and “select friends” of South Africa and in the future reap in their growth and broad based outreach across Nigeria. Last year, SAT visited Port Harcourt, Abuja and Lagos a creative confidence boosting outreach to make Nigerian operators to start off inwards but target Nigerians to chose South Africa has their prime destination.

It was a smart move, an industry clever intelligence gathering strategy that gave SAT facts from the streets about Nigeria and their possible change in taste of tourism desires within and outside South Africa. The SAT largesse is like a quick response tourism mechanism that will keep Nigeria tourism naira going one way to South Africa in many years to come. Can Nigeria respond to this SAT creative initiative? Time will tell.