Sierra Leone is seizing opportunities for tourism collaboration at FITUR 2024, reinforcing its commitment to global partnerships and cultural exchange. Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Nabeela Tunis, emphasized Sierra Leone’s role as a collaborator rather than a competitor in the international tourism arena.
The 2024 edition of FITUR begun last Wednesday, attracting the global tourism trade and industry stakeholders to deliberate on key priorities for the year. Sierra Leone is among the nations participating in this year’s FITUR.
In an exclusive interview, Minister Nabeela Tunis articulated that the conference serves as a platform for strategic partnerships and a unique opportunity for countries to effectively market themselves on a global scale.
She said “My impression is that it’s a great opportunity to create partnerships; to learn about other destinations and also position your country as one of the destinations to visit. So, it’s a lovely experience. And it gives a lot of opportunities to create a lot of partnerships beyond what we have in Sierra Leone. Being here in a space of 1500 square kilometers, and observing how other countries have been exhibiting, their products are also quite useful for us because we do see that we have a very unique product which can be launched into this market.”
Minister Tunis underlined Sierra Leone’s presence at FITUR as collaborative rather than competitive. According to her, FITUR is an excellent platform to project Sierra Leone’s rich culture and tourism to diverse parts of the world, emphasizing the positive reception received so far.
She added, “First of all, as I said, we’re all here not as competitors. But we’re all here showcasing our unique selling products. Feedback in terms of our country as a destination has been great. A lot of people don’t know Sierra Leone, so we’re using this opportunity for people to understand that Sierra Leone has a lot to offer: its people, in terms of tourism, our culture and our food.”
The Minister maintained that visitations to the country’s stand at the Fair had been impressive, having received over 400 visitors on day one alone.
