Cross River State Tourism Bureau hosts a one-day workshop for all paramilitary and military forces.

Cross River State Tourism Bureau

It is known that throughout its existence, tourism has always been its basic contribution to the nation and world. That\’s why it is called a paradise nation. The government of Prince Otu has seen Cross River State Tourism Bureau as a sector to maintain the beauty of the state, hence the idea of keying into security for the state and the location where tourism sites are located.

On this note, the Cross River State Tourism Bureau, led by Mr. Ojoi Ekpenyong, director general, has organized a paramilitary and military training section for all forces representatives in Nigeria.

The comprehensive one-day training and workshop is aimed at equipping this military and paramilitary forces with the knowledge and skills needed to deliver Africa\’s warmest welcome to the tourist community during the calabar festival, which consists of the calabar carnival and other daily events within the festival, to ensure our guests have an exceptional experience during their stay.

The speaker, Cross River State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Elvert Ayambem, shed more light on the importance of tourism and why the current government of Cross River State takes tourism as its first mandate. He further explained that in all human labor, a day is always set aside to rest, which is usually out of our home, and that involves sight-seeing in some creative areas where one can relax and think.

For me, tourism is an amazing site where new things are seen, and Cross River State is the best region in Nigeria where you can expect such things, and we got this sight.

The speaker explained the importance of equipping the military and paramilitary forces with the skills and knowledge to handle visitors and indigenous people. For example, if you travel to a tourist site and you see security operatives manhandling another person, it creates an impression on whether to go there or not.

With the help of this one-day paramilitary and military forces workshop organized by the DG Cross River State Tourism Bureau, Mr. Ojoi Ekpenyong, it will help our security agencies to know the tourism sites we have and actions to take from indigenes and visitors on tourist sites and cross river state at large if anyone falls victim.

The Cross River State Tourism Bureau DG, Mr. Ojoi Ekpenyong, first of all, appreciates the Governor of Cross River State,His Excellency Sen. Prince Bassey Edet Otu, for the love he has for tourism by making sure that every day a step is taken to bring back the paradise nation of the state that it used to be.

The essence of the one-day paramilitary and military forces workshop is to return Cross River State to that world-class destination. When visitors come, security agencies are gatekeepers, and while our visitors and indigenous people are in their various resting places, the security agencies are looking after the environment. Therefore, as we receive our visitors,we must smile, do their job with love, and practice functionalism.

From the interactions and attendance for today\’s workshop, the security agencies are very excited because a lot of them haven’t heard of most of the tourist sites we have. But in today\’s workshop, tourist sites have been told to them following descriptions on how to get to these places, for example, Marina, Qua Fall, Tinapa, and lots more.

The reason for this training only for paramilitaries and military forces is that they’re the ones to receive these visitors from the airport, so they need to know the kilometers of each destination from the airport or from Calabar to these sites. With this information, all the paramilitary and military forces available today for the workshop are full of expectations and excitement.

Ojoi mentioned that Cross River State will now have tourism police and policy experience after the training.

In attendance are the police,army,navy, air force,civil defense, VIO, and lots more to mention, who are paramilitary and military personnel who are all here as trainers to go back as trainers to train their colleagues so that a thousand and more of them on the road will be equipped with the mandate for proper services.

At the end of this training, Cross River State will end up with a paramilitary and military-friendly tourism policy to make our visitors happy and comfortable.

The training plan includes a mix of theoretical sessions, practical training,and interactive discussions to enhance engagement.Facilitators with expertise in hospitality,event management, and military protocol will conduct the session.

Training materials, including handouts and case studies, will be provided.

Cross River State Tourism Bureau is ready to transform the state back to the paradise status we are known for.