Nigeria has come one step closer to the regulation of travel agents in the country, as the NANTA Bill went through a second reading at the House of Assembly.
The travel industry in Nigeria does currently not have a legislative backing as it partly falls under the Nigeria Civil Aviation Act.
However, the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA) has drafted a travel-industry specific Act to ensure the industry receives the legislative backing it needs.
Reading out the Bill in the House of Assembly, Hon. Nkiruka Onyejeocha said that there are currently over 6 000 travel agents in Nigeria without an officially recongised body.
Although the industry is overseen by NANTA, which has been in existence since 1973, the organization has not sufficiently been able to sanitize the industry due to the lack of a legal framework.
The NANTA Bill clearly outlines conditions under which travel agents can practice as well as the specific disciplinary actions in case of professional misconduct.
The regulation of travel agents is common practice all over the world and can be seen as international best practice, Hon. Nkiruka Onyejeocha continued.
Having read the Bill for the 2nd time, the Speaker of the House, RT. Hon. Yakubu Dogara after consent of the majority legislators, refer the Bill to the “House Committee on Aviation” for further proceedings.
Bernard Bankole, NANTA President, told Inside Travel previously, that although travel trade associations in other countries, such as South Africa and Kenya, prefer to remain voluntary instead of regulated by the government, in Nigeria the situation is different.
“Where there are strong laws governing travel such as consumer protection and trade protection, it is possible to have a voluntary association. In Nigeria, this is not the case. We see airlines in Nigeria coming to hotels and opening kiosks to sell tickets, or opening kiosks in banks; there is simply no trade protection. If we don’t protect our industry – nobody will protect it for us,” he said.
Bankole explained Nigeria currently struggles with ticketing schools that are not even IATA registered. He says: “They take people’s money but they teach them nothing. We are trying to regulate all these things, but currently, we are not empowered to regulate it because we don’t’ have a law.”
The legislative backing will empower NANTA in curbing fraudulent practices in the industry as erring members and the unguided agents can be prosecuted at the court of law if found guilty of any fraudulent act. It will sanitize and foster professionalism in the travel and tourism industry in Nigeria. Due to the peculiarity of the Bill in salvaging the industry, I believe the House will proffer an accelerated passage as soon as possible.
The second reading comes as NANTA is on the brink of rolling out the travel practitioner ID Card on 26 June.
Bankole explained the ID Card means that every travel agency in Nigeria will need to be registered.
“The NANTA Abuja Zone is ready for the launch and has put mechanisms in place to enlighten the public and create awareness about who is a genuine and authentic travel agent,” said the Vice President Abuja Zone, Amb. Kayode Adeshola.
Lagos state government has recently commended the strategic efforts of NANTA to rid the travel trade sector of fraudsters and has mentioned that NANTA is the most serious and organized travel and tourism trade body in Nigeria.
Steve Ayorinde, Commissioner of Tourism, Lagos state said: “In the many associations in the tourism industry, NANTA to me stands out and we are going to encourage and work with NANTA to build and create a new Lagos tourism. Indeed, we were once on course in this direction but the relationship nosedived but am happy today that we are back on the same page