What Makes a Total Tourist Experience? — Part 2

In my previous article, I outlined essential elements of complete tourist experience which rest on culture, communication and creativity. However, those elements cannot be fully explored where safety, security and healthcare are a concern. These factors are fundamental in the pyramid of existential human requirements, and positive emotional experience is unreachable without them.

According to the Global Peace Index Report 2021, 40% of inhabitants across the whole sub-Saharan Africa feel less safe today than 5 years ago. If the residents feel this way, the outlook both for domestic and inbound tourists isn’t favourable. Foreign embassies, one by one, warn their citizens against travelling to many African countries without an acute necessity.

Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, recently expressed her concern that the soar of insecurity in West Africa is deteriorating for the sub-regional integration process, which also may stall our slowly rising tourism industry.

When I glance at relevant statistics across Nigeria, I also feel concern about the situation at hand. As it goes from the biannual Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report (2019), Nigeria is ranked 139 in safety and security, 127 in health and hygiene and 128 in prioritisation of travel & tourism amongst 140 estimated countries.

As I don`t expect instant improvements in the new report after the year struck by the pandemic, I have highlighted the elements of a total tourist experience that are able to accelerate the process to ‘restart’ tourism in Nigeria and other West African countries.

1) Accommodation Safety

I refer to this category as an examination of tourist infrastructure and increased control over the quality of services they consume. Elaborate cultural programmes will not prevent tourists from having a negative experience if their food is stale and bedsheets are not clean. Moreover, West African businesses should explicitly communicate how they are safety conscious and how their facilities are well designed to provide optimum protection.

2) Travel Security

Tourists should be exhaustively informed about all unsafe places in the area of ​​their sojourn, equipped with timely updated instructions about all locations and their worthy substitutes in case of looming threats. Additionally, physical safeguard for tourists should be included in service packages with moderate price and remain mandatory except for a voluntary refusal of a tourist. Foreign tourists may catch themselves in unpleasant situations due to understandable ignorance about local communication patterns and etiquette, especially if they travel to remote communities where inhabitants often retain a traditional and specific lifestyle. Hence, I mentioned in the first article that communication with locals has to be guided.

3) Quality Healthcare

This one relates to loosening the registration process flow to get medical insurance as well as implementing a cost-friendly policy for medical service provision. I particularly welcome an idea about short-term tourist hospital passes for foreign travellers which will ensure prompt medical interventions when needed. Medical emergencies should be available in hot tourist destinations and those with high degrees of health-threatening activities, places like safaris, amusement parks and extreme habitats.

I firmly stand on the point that public and private tourism businesses and practitioners should not lose sight of these pivotal components of positive tourist experience. The benefits will prove worthwhile for our regional economies.