The sixth edition of the annual Hike Ekiti Mountain Safari is scheduled to hold on Monday, April 1, as part of the activities marking this year’s Easter fiesta in the state.
The Director General of the State Bureau of Tourism Development, Barrister Wale Ojo-Lanre made this known during an advocacy visit to the State Commissioner for Information, Rt. Hon. Taiwo Olatunbosun in Ado Ekiti to intimate him of the programme.
Wale Ojo-Lanre highlighted activities billed for the programme to include welcome party, networking, fun games and hiking safari, as well as tours, with special hiking trail to the table plateau at the peak of Abanijorin mountain at Iyin Ekiti, which is said to be 900 metres above the sea level.
Ojo-Lanre explained that the focus is to explore all opportunities to use abundant tourism potentials in the State to attract tourists and investors, adding that the Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Lola Ade-John had agreed to join the hike and would also visit the Ikogosi Warm Springs while in the State.
He said youths in the State would, in addition, benefit from a training programme for tour operators and tour guides under the EcoGenesis Incubator Series organized by the Federal Ministry of Tourism, in partnership with the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism.
The DG explained that the EcoGenesis Incubator Series which is an initiative of the Minister of Tourism, is a sustainable tourism entrepreneurship programme that targets residents of tourist host communities, including women, youths, and small cottage services that form parts of the destination’s experiences for visitors.
Ojo-Lanre said the objective is to provide a viable platform that will catalyze innovation and drive economic empowerment by helping the participants to develop, articulate, and refine their skills and tourism products with the aim of lifting many out of poverty by leveraging on the abundant tourism opportunities inherent in communities across the nation.
In his remarks, the State Commissioner for Information, Rt. Hon. Taiwo Olatunbosun stressed the commitment of the Biodun Oyebanji administration to the development of the abundant tourists’ sites in the State to generate revenue adding that it was in recognition of the potentials in tourism that “Arts, Culture and Tourism” was made one of the pillars of the administration.
Rt. Hon. Olatunbosun stated that apart from revenue generation, Government also decided to partner with the private sector to develop tourism in the State to create employment opportunities and alleviate poverty at the grassroots.
According to him, the award of the Best Holiday Resort in Nigeria conferred upon Ikogosi Warm Springs Resort during the fifth edition of the Hotel Managers Conference (HMC), held on July 14, 2023 in Owerri, Imo State was not a fluke but the result of a well-articulated plan to make Ekiti a tourists destination.
He recalled that the State government also recently established a museum in honour of late Olowe Ajalemo from Ise-Ekiti, a palace sculptor renowned for his artistic dexterity, with magnificent works scattered across major museums in America and Europe.
Olatunbosun said that Government has furthermore commenced topographical survey of Tourist Center Infrastructures in the State.
Stressing that the State offers serenity and a wide variety of tourist attractions such as extended rivers, unique wildlife, vast tracks of unspoiled nature ranging from tropical forest, magnificent waterfalls, conducive hilltop holidaying climates, spectacular warm and cold water springs oozing out and touching, yet retaining its thermal identity, Olatunbosun assured that no tourist would regret visiting the State.
He also urged youths in the State to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the State Government to improve their lot through tourism.
