Non-registered hotels will be shut down – Okiro

Chris Agbambu, Abuja - 30.06.2009

Any hotel that is not registered with the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) will be closed down and have its proprietor prosecuted.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, handed down the warning on Monday at a joint media briefing with the Director-General of the NTDC, Chief Olusegun Runsewe, adding that the country could not afford to compromise its national security for any other consideration.

Consequently, the IGP had directed the police to work with the NTDC for the enforcement of this regulation at the federal, state and local governments levels.

According to him, “there is the need for greater harmonisation of activities in the tourism industry. “Tourism standards cannot be set on local or regional sentiments, it is a global phenomenon and there are international standards and procedures regulating the industry which must be adhered to if we must make progress in our efforts at re-inventing our economy through tourism.”