Challenges to International Tourism and the Prospect of Economic Diversification in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines the challenges confronting international tourism and how they affect Nigeria’s prospects for economic diversification between 2000 and 2024. The study argues that since the discovery of crude oil in the late 1950s, Nigeria’s economy has shifted from a diversified economy to a monocultural economy, neglecting other economic sectors such as agriculture, mining, and tourism. However, few studies have systematically attempted to interrogate how the challenges confronting international tourism affect Nigeria’s prospects for economic diversification using the tourism-led growth thesis. As a result, the study argues that although international tourism is a multipotential economic sector that can contribute to and influence the path to economic diversification due to its capacity for creating large-scale employment opportunities, for attracting foreign revenue and exchange earnings, and for increasing the GDP of the country as well as directing policies that support regional economic development, its potential is undermined by challenges such as insecurity and poor planning, among others. Using a qualitative descriptive research design and combining primary (KII) and secondary data sources to ensure analytical depth and triangulation, the study concludes that despite international tourism's vast economic potential for driving economic diversification in Nigeria, the major challenge facing it is the rentier character of the Nigerian state that depends on oil rents, leaving other sectors unproductive. It recommends that there be a need for the Nigerian government to show the political will to break away from oil rents towards investing in other sectors, including improving security governance that boosts the confidence of international tourists and taking strategic actions that market the country's tourism potential.