Yemisi Izuora
The apex aviation regulatory body, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has expressed firm commitment in fully participating in the Tourism Transport Summit/Expo being anchored by the Institute of Tourism Practitioners (ITP) for the Ministries of Transportation and Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.
NCAA as regulatory body oversees the activities of all airlines and their pilots, engineers and cabin staff, airports, airstrips and heliports, navigation aids, all service providers including the airport authority and the air traffic service provider, aviation training institutions, etc.
NCAA watches over the entire industry. Its role can aptly be described as that of “general overseer”. It has even been in some cases addressed as the “police” of the industry. While all these are correct, NCAA is essentially a facilitator of compliance of all activities in the aviation safety and economic regulations.
NCAA therefore regulates the industry through series of well-coordinated procedures. The Authority sets safety standards, issue licenses and operating certificates to personnel and service providers and monitors their compliance through a range of surveillance activities. Where safety rules are breeched, the NCAA takes strong corrective actions to enforce compliance which may include sanctions.
A sector with such a huge and sensitive role in the aviation industry is aptly expected to synergize its functions and those of other critical key players in the sector.
This exactly explains why the agency is fully committed to participating in the Tourism Transport Summit/Expo.
NCAA’s participation at the Summit Expo is to further entrench the fact that Tourism and Transport Connectivity are critical issues in bridging transport and tourism policies, that while reaffirming the need for developing programmes of inter-ministerial cooperation between bodies responsible for tourism and transport, it will help in improving and strengthening the basic conditions for the sustainable development of both industries.
It is predicted that transportation and tourism will be one of the world’s highest growing sectors in the new century, creating more jobs and increasing the GDP of most countries of the world. It is therefore pertinent that events such as the upcoming National Tourism Transport Summit & Expo are created to build strong synergy and chart the way forward to grow and enhance the two sectors.
With some of the Sub themes of the Summit that includes Potentialities of Developing Regional Inter-Connectivity in Transportation and Inter-Modal Connectivity, Traveler Safety and Security; Licensing Regulations and Oversight–Meeting the International Standards for Sustainable Development of the Transportation and Tourism Industries; and Building Capacity for Global Best Practices in the Tourism and Transportation Sectors, NCAA’s participation at the event couldn’t have come at a better time.
According organizers of the event, adequate preparations have being put in place to ensure a successful hosting of the Summit, the first edition in a series to be organized annually and is scheduled to hold at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja from 21st – 22nd May, 2018.