I was just curious that afternoon to know what data the bureau of statistics had on The Nigerian Travel Industry. I wasn’t surprised when I met an almost empty page because the industry is one of the few sectors that no one is interested in.
This singular occurrence prompted me to put together this simple body of work to form a basis on which subsequent research projects around travel and tourism can be built.
Most importantly, this was designed to help provide guidance to major stakeholders (such as tour operators, travel content creators, Government, etc ) while making plans as it concerns this industry.
Introduction
When it comes to outcomes, most discussions around Travel and Tourism in Nigeria focus on the impoverished state we find ourselves despite the abundance of the riches of our culture, tradition, artifacts, local literature, and all components which ought to take the front seat during these discussions.
At different points in time, a number of bodies responsible for tourism in the country have presented various plans to revamp this industry but very little progress has been made.
This survey (focused on understanding the true perception of the Nigerian youth about travel and tourism) seeks to highlight the probable causes of the sluggish growth of domestic tourism within the country through the use of empirical data and quality content.
Overview
In a bid to make this as credible as possible, the opinions of 279 persons within the age range of 18-45 were sampled across all the states in Nigeria. Questions bordering around Travel preference, Insurance, Accommodation, and travel exposure were asked. The entries were gathered within a period of one week after which the submission was closed.
This project addresses the problem of disinterest in travel and tourism within Nigeria, have noticed over time that major decision-making arms of the industry execute actions based on limited evidence rather than factual information.
Google Forms and Google sheets were used in gathering and analyzing the data used in this report. Microsoft Power BI was used in describing the analyzed data and Google slides helped in presenting the processed data.
Ultimately, this body of work will form a part of my continuous push to ensure tourism becomes an integral part of wealth creation in Nigeria and Africa at large.
Both genders were well represented with 45% being females and 55% males. The most popular age bracket is 18-30 and majority of these people reside in Lagos
Travel exposure
Only 3% of the respondents have never traveled out of their state of residence. And of the 97% who have ventured outside, Only 22% traveled for the purpose of Tourism.
I think this is a pointer to the fact that traveling for tourism remains one of the least popular reasons why Nigerian youths travel.
Oyo, Ogun and Lagos are the most visited states by the respondents. While Zamfara, Jigawa, and Yobe are the least visited.
The visiting frequency of respondents to Ogun and Oyo state could be due to their proximity to Lagos (where most of them are based). Security risk and distance are two major phenomena likely to affect travel frequency to the North.
Europe is the favourite destination for the majority of these youth, closely followed by Africa.
A close look at this result also reveals that many of the respondents prefer traveling to destinations along with coastal areas and this might be due to the presence of beaches.
America, Canada, France, Dubai, UK are, according to the respondents the most popular countries for Tourism.
In Nigeria, the majority of the respondents believe that Abuja, Cross River, and Lagos are the most popular states as far as Tourism is concerned.
Obudu Cattle ranch leading as the most popular Tourist attraction in the country according to the majority of the respondents. They affirmed that Olumo Rock is the second most popular attraction in the country.
Travel Passport
33% of the respondents do not have a Nigerian Passport. And of the 67% who own passports, the majority of them have only traveled with it once or twice.
I think Budget constraint, travel culture, and difficulty in traveling within Africa are a few of the reasons why many haven’t traveled more using these passports.
Travel Insurance
Only 6% of the respondents have travel insurance, while 18% have never heard of it. It’s interesting to note however, that 41% of the respondents who don’t have travel insurance said they won’t like having it while the remaining 59% wouldn’t mind getting theirs.
Accommodation
Staying in hotels is the most popular means of accommodation for the respondents (at 51%) despite the rising popularity of alternatives like Airbnb (3%) and Couchsurfing (0%).
A lot more respondents will also prefer to pass the nights at a friends/Family’s place (46%). This is done mostly to cut costs.
The average amount most respondents will be willing and able to spend on accommodation while traveling is below N10,000
Hotel operators might need to create more offerings around this range to cater for this class of customers.
You should read what I wrote about The Nigerian Tourism Industry & Her Beef with Data
Spend on Tourism
For the majority of the respondents (31%), between N21,000 and N50,000 is the average amount they can spend on travel and tourism. This is a pointer to the fact that anything outside this price bracket will be considered out of budget for these people.
Travel Preference
81% will prefer to travel alongside friends, compared to the 13% who will prefer solo travel and 7% who’d rather go with people they’ve never met before.
Transportation
The choice of transportation reflects that Road and Air transportation are two of the most functional means of transportation. The Government has a lot to do in this regard by taking infrastructures more seriously and also encouraging the populace to try other means of commuting between and within states.
Limitations of this Study
Here are a couple of constraints that have influenced the outcome of this research;
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- Due to the time-consuming nature of Quantitative research, only 300 respondents were sampled within the allotted time for data collection, which was 1 week.
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- I wanted the respondents to treat the questionnaire with the highest level of interest without losing enthusiasm, so the number of questions was limited, hence reducing the volume of data points collected.
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- The majority of the respondents are based in Lagos. While this mightn’t be the best representation of Nigeria, it is still the closest shot, considering that Lagos is the most diversified state in the country.
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- Limited close-ended options during data collection.
Appreciation
To everyone who took a portion of their time in attending to my survey, I owe you one even though I barely know half of you in person. I sure know you could have done something more tangible with that time but you chose to do it for me instead. Why on earth will I be ungrateful?
To @glim_bukola and Opara Chidinma- the duo who helped ensure the trip wasn’t a lonely one by contributing physically and mentally towards the project, I’m still unsure how best to make you understand how important your contributions were.
