Day journalists trained in tourism, hospitality

When journalists from different media organizations gathered within the ambience of the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, not many could easily offer an insight as to what they were to experience or the depth of knowledge to be shared in the tourism and hospitality training in place by the […]

When journalists from different media organizations gathered within the ambience of the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, not many could easily offer an insight as to what they were to experience or the depth of knowledge to be shared in the tourism and hospitality training in place by the organizers.

Yet, that suspense was never meant to last long. At the fore front of the programme was a sight-seeing tour across the ancient city with brief stopovers at cultural and historical sites such as the famous Ransome Kuti’s family house, the Obasanjo Presidential Library complex, Kuto Cultural Centre and the Itoku Tie and Dye market, among others.

The visit to the tie and dye market was simply to whet the appetite of the visiting journalists. Upon return to the hotel, two tie and dye professionals were to later host a complete training session where each of the participating journalists were guided on how to transform a white T-shirt, through the tie and squeezing stage, to the point of soaking the tie cloths into the dye water bowls as well as the eventual risen and spread of the completed ‘adire,’ completely produced.

But beyond the sight-seeing and the adire-making session, Femi Lawson, the Managing Director, Skyview Communication, the tourism firm that is known to be the brain behind the training programme said the whole idea behind the gesture is to move journalists from the position of mere reportage to being active stakeholders.

“The business of tourism and hospitality has gone beyond what many of us need to know. It is a big and serious business and in our efforts to project Nigerian culture and tourism potentials to the outside world, you journalists have greater role to play. But again, we can’t leave journalists to be reporting from afar. 

“We need them being part of the industry and that is the basis [for which] we struck a partnership with the management of the Park Inn by Radisson, a hotel that has succeeded to build a distinct reputation for itself in the hospitality industry over the years,” Lawson said.

The hotel’s story is rather told better by no one but its General Manager, Kayode Aina. With a total of 173 rooms and suites, Aina said the hotel has often been on the front row of cultural promotion and hospitality in Abeokuta and environs because, it is has succeeded in thriving as a beacon of inspiration.

“Park Inn by Radisson is a fresh, energetic midmarket hotel brand created for fast, flexible growth and focused on mastering the essentials of a great hotel experience. As a member of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, one of the world’s largest and most dynamic hotel companies with an expanding portfolio of more than 1,370 hotels in operation and under development, a global footprint covering over 110 countries and territories, and a powerful set of other global brands,” Aina said.

The Hotel General Manager would later lead journalists to the seminar titled: ‘Education and the Nigerian Child.’ The Keynote Speaker, a brand expert, Victor Gonzallo harps on the need for parents to family travel as a means of educating their children. 

Mr Victor Ganzallo, a brand expert, who spoke on ‘Education and Culture/Travel,’ emphasized the need for parents to use travel as a means of education for their children. 

He said, “Well travelled children tend to be more tolerant and have more confidence to try new things. There are even studies that show that, thanks to hand-on learning, children who travel have better grades at school. Travelling teaches kids about new cultures and languages and also a thing or two being flexible. Children learn countless things about life and people by simply being able to observe how some things are the same in different places and how other things are completely different.

“Travels teach kids about new cultures and language, children learn countless things about life and people by simply being able to observe how some things are practised in different places. Parents should make it a duty to teach their children and wards about their ancestral pedigree and culture. We should teach our children about their culture, and let them have a good understanding of who they are and where they are from,” he said.

The brand expert noted that another great way to travel is to “borrow and read travel books, research on different destinations and watch travel documentaries that bring the world into your home; it’s great education on its own.”

To demonstrate its conviction in the future of tourism and hospitality, the hotel management under what it called a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, brought in students from different secondary schools in the State to participate in an inter-school debate.

“As a hotel, apart from tourism and hospitality, we are also interested in knowledge and we have zeroed in on an educational program that will impact schools in Ogun State by establishing this literary and debating series,” the hotel General Manager said.

A Professor of Rural Development Communication at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, (FUNAAB), Prof. Kolawole Adebayo who led the panel of judges pronounced the Victorrotti Private School, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta the overall winner, thus earning an all-expense paid trip to Kenya sponsored by Kenyan Airways.

Commending the initiative, the Ogun State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism Muyiwa Oladipo, said, the hotel has played a leading role in the industry in the state with their CSR programmes they have organized which have strengthened tourism and the hospitality business in Ogun.