joshuaFestival Tourism is Part of International Tourism and a Factor in the Development of Cultural Tourism, Hon. Prince Philip Orebiyi the Chairman Kogi Hotels and Tourism Board told Tourism Stakeholders in Lokoja who paid him a visit on Saturday June 15, 2024 in his residence in Lokoja.
He said cultural tourism, by developing festival tours, is able to generate significant tourist flows not only by itself, but also it is a necessary complement to any other tourist product.
Prince Philip Orebiyi said the Kogi Hotels and Tourism Board is rightly positioned as it is today with very renowned specialists in Tourism development that have hit the ground running immediately to commence the required activities. He said the board with a supportive General Manager Hajia Bilikisu Ogueyi who understands the precepts of tour value is a great relief.
Kogi State is blessed with Festivals that are means for tourism, economic development and local marketing. our plans economically is based on consumer behavior approaches, the fundamental needs of celebration and many social and cultural reasons for searching a holiday. It should also be emphasized that festivals are increasingly being used to achieve social and cultural objects, which places them as implements for social marketers. There are many festivals in Kogi State that have generated so much national interest but have not been properly positioned as an established destination safe for international tourists.
Holding and developing the tradition of mass cultural events in particular festivals is a form of creativity. Festivals are an important aspect of event research and are of particular interest to scholars from many disciplines because the versatility of the festival and the popularity of the festival experience and as a curator of established festivals in Kogi I can tell of the importance to our localities. Prince Philip Orebiyi said his experience with the Apapo Okun Cultural Festival established the fact that with support from Government Kogi is a ripe destination that can engage the local population. He said when all stakeholders are reaping economic gains from tourism interests the security consciousness will easily arise.
Orebiyi said he is happy because of the Security network being put in place by the government of His Excellency, Alhaji Usman Ododo. Security is the life of a successful tourism activities so the use of vigilantes will enhance the placement of the local effects and encourage the hunters participation.
The special appeal of the festivals is determined by their ability to create the conditions for creativity, to involve large groups of people in executing out pithy leisure and to obtain a significant economic benefit for the host party. Leisure, in this case, is increasingly being transformed into a consumer good and viewed, including the time required to consume goods and services, becoming, along with work, an integral part of the economic system.
Considering cultural tourism as a symbiosis of economy and culture we should emphasize that it contemplates not only knowledge of the cultural heritage of tourist destinations, but also inclusion of a tourist into a modern cultural environment.
Prince Philip Orebiyi also said that festivals and holidays can become an effective technology for influencing the mass consciousness, the formation of consumer consciousness, the intensification of consumption, commoditisation becomes a systematic process of materializing goods that were not previously perceived as commodities.
Commoditisation leads to the fact that the effectiveness of festivals and holidays is evaluated in terms of profit and economic efficiency, and the sphere of the sacred, that which could not be sold and bought before and is, at the heart of society, is under pressure from the system of unlimited consumption.
Prince Orebiyi who took time to educate the festival interested parties went further to say that in America, folk festivals are also called street fairs. Fiesta is a traditional folk festival, typical of Spanish-speaking countries and widespread in the Mediterranean.
Slavic festivals are analogous to festivals, which are elements of different cultures and relate to the historical traditions and customs that transmitted from generation to generation and preserved for a long time.
He said his recent work which is being researched in Turkey being prepared for the next few months is traditionally considered a beach-bathing holiday, focused on promoting the country’s cultural heritage, various festivals and other cultural activities in order to expand the season.
Great festivals in Kogi can be the events that takes place once or several times a year, lasts a limited amount of time and provides participants with social opportunities that go beyond the ordinary.
The role of tourism in the process of realization is substantial as it is providing to the tourists involvement into the other cultural context, where people of the other country, city and region live and based on this there will be rapid change of impressions; intense intellectual and information component of tourist activity, which is very important for modern people; entertaining-relaxation effect; satisfaction of social and prestigious demands according to consumer’s behavior of an individual, developed consumer standards of certain social groups and, therefore support and in some cases raise the social status of a tourist; opportunity of meeting and communicating with different people during cultural events and festivals, holidays.
International festivals create the preconditions for exporting national cultural products. The analysis of the positive results of the festival activity shows a multiplier effect, which is manifested in the growth of income, creation of new jobs, development of infrastructure on the places and increase of capital investments, creation of dynamic social and cultural space favourable for business.
Myths and symbols are laid in traditional festivals, in modern societies they are often transformed into fictional myths or symbols with different meanings, so aggravating enhancing their commodity value, and places associated with these myths are transformed into tourist attractions.
Reacting to the elaborate delivery of Hon. Prince Philip Orebiyi the Chairman Kogi Hotels and Tourism Board Comrade Rajan the Vice President Tourism Kogi Chamber of commerce industry mines and Agriculture states their willingness to collaborate with the board to achieve the needed framework to turn Kogi into the main destination in the north central and Nigeria..
Comrade Rajan said that they are particularly convinced that the Kogi State Government is ready to reposition the tourism industry as a revenue channel to Kogi State and Local.
Governments.
