A tourism expert, Mr Stanley Norbert has urged filmmakers in Nigeria to showcase the country’s rich tourism potential to the world through their movies.
He said the role of entertainment in society cannot be over emphasised, noting that entertainment fostered creativity, relieved stress, as well as contributed to cultural preservation and economic growth.
According to him, film is a veritable tool for showcasing a nation’s lifestyle and opportunities it has to offer, beside entertainment.
” The Nigerian movie industry, popularly known as Nollywood, is known all over the world. They have gained acceptance on the global stage, which makes it a viable platform to promote the nation’s tourism potential.
” Projecting tourism potentialities in Nigerian movies create great awareness for tourists in other parts of the world to visit the country.
” Many foreigners do not know most states in Nigeria but when filmmakers showcase those states and their beauty in various movies, they will be moved to come and see things for themselves,” he said.
He added that filmmakers should portray the good image of Nigeria in their movies, by ensuring that any film produced represented the country positively.
” They should portray the good image of Nigeria with their movies to the world, by stopping production of those movies that portray a lot of witchcraft activities that have sold the image of Nigeria as fetish.
“The movie industry gives us a great advantage as well as great base to build our tourism by taking advantage of the positive parts,” he added.
He urged state governments to ensure they encouraged tourism as they have legal powers to regulate and organise, because tourist destinations are owned by states.