Joyce Onwuka
Private sector support has been advocated to improve tourism sector development in Nigeria, as experts warned that without destination-level investment, Nigeria risks having infrastructure without demand.
According to them, Government alone cannot provide sufficient resources to meet target development that will turn Nigeria into Africa’s tourism hub.
This is as the Group General Manager, Continental Hotels Group, Karl Hala, has called on Nigeria’s private sector to move beyond individual businesses and invest directly in the broader tourism destination.
Speaking at AeroWest Summit 2026 , Hala said tourism fails when stakeholders only think about their own asset.
“An airline seat is not tourism. An airport is not tourism. A hotel room is not tourism. Tourism happens when we connect the entire ecosystem,” he said.
Hala argued that sustainable growth requires investment beyond property lines — into skills, culture, public spaces, and experiences that give travelers a reason to come and return.
“The opportunity is not simply to build more hotel rooms for existing demand. It is to create experiences that generate entirely new demand,” he stated.
He listed areas requiring urgent private sector attention: museums, theatres, waterfronts, festivals, restaurants, tour operators, and bookable cultural products.
“Government cannot do this alone — and neither should it. The private sector must invest in the destination,” Hala said.
He pointed to ongoing efforts by *Continental Hotels Group* at *Lagos Continental Hotel* and *Abuja Continental Hotel* as an example of hotels evolving beyond accommodation.
“We are strengthening culinary, wellness and MICE offerings in Lagos, and building a broader proposition around conventions, sports, dining and entertainment in Abuja. Hotels today must be part of the destination experience, not just places to sleep,” he said.
“Finance the reasons for those routes to exist: people, skills, destinations, experiences, convention infrastructure, culture and marketing. That is how we change the conversation from ‘bring another flight’ to ‘here is the demand that will fill your aircraft.’”
Hala said the model for the future is collaboration between aviation, hospitality, government and the creative economy.
“When we think as one tourism economy, we stop competing for slices and start growing the pie. That is how Nigeria becomes a destination, not just a stopover.”