Experts in aviation and tourism have said Nigeria is failing to maximise the economic potential of the Yuletide season, better known as Detty December, despite the period’s ability to generate about $500 million in revenue.

The experts said the country had not been able to build a structured tourism ecosystem around the seasonal influx of visitors, particularly Nigerians in the diaspora, who troop into the country between December and early January.

They also fingered poor airport experience, especially multiple checkpoints and unnecessary scrutiny, as well as the limited capacity of domestic airlines as factors undermining the country’s ability to maximise the opportunities presented by the festive season.

They spoke during the third edition of Naija7Wonders Conference, a virtual event titled: ‘Detty December: The Lessons and Impact,’ organised by Seven Wonders of Nigeria.

Managing Partner at Aeronexus, Mr Gbenga Onitilo, said: “One of the things I have understood is that Detty December has not evolved into a tourism ecosystem. I think if we are really sincere with ourselves, we will know that we stumbled upon this. It was a diaspora-triggered activity and we have not been able to really create an ecosystem around it. If you look at last December, we saw the way the whole system tried to milk Detty December. For instance, looking at short-let apartments and restaurants, things just went off the roof.

“That’s not how we create an ecosystem for tourism. Detty December brings close to about $500 million revenue for the whole industry between December 10 and January 5 or January 10. It puts that opportunity on the table. In December alone, I think international arrivals for 2024 or 2025, we had over 300,000 international arrivals that came into the country. Did Nigeria actually benefit from this? I would say no.

“We had over $500 million on the table. But did we benefit? No. Tourism is beyond booking tickets or packages. People must begin to understand there is a whole lot of ecosystem around tourism. What we see in Detty December is every ecosystem, whether around aviation, hospitality, government agencies, you are talking about travel and tourism industry, there is a bit of disconnect. That’s where the problem starts from. There is no synergy.”

Meanwhile, Acting Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Ibom Air, Mr George Uriesi, said: “We need to change some of our very backward cultures. One of them is even the airport experience. The airport is the gateway to Nigeria, it is the face of Nigeria. When you arrive at an airport, for instance, in Nigeria, it may be for business, for pleasure, even for Detty December. You have green and red, something to declare and nothing to declare.

“The nothing to declare is where they go and mount checkpoints. You can’t pass through without being asked to declare something. Talking of airlines, our big problem is smallness. We are trying to grow as fast as we can out of this smallness. Over the next two years, we are going to grow massively so that we have plenty of airplanes, 15 to 20 and beyond.

“An airline with five, six, seven, eight aeroplanes is not an airline, it’s a wannabe airline. If one aircraft breaks down, it will scatter the whole arrangement, because you can’t keep aircraft redundant when you are still at this level. In general, we have passed the point where we should be harassing people at the airport. It should be a national emergency. It should stop. Try to go into Murtala Muhammed International Airport, our gateway. They have mounted one massive checkpoint where you put your box through screening.”