Abstract:
This study assessed the contribution of the aviation industry to the growth of tourism sector in Southwest Nigeria. The study was embarked upon due to the difficulty experienced in getting data on the contribution of air transport for tourism development in Nigeria. Primary and secondary data were employed to achieve the set objectives: ascertaining extent of records of foreign tourism patronage in Nigeria; estimating the tourist throughputs at a major international airport; assessing the tourist modal choice for transportation to Nigeria and within Nigeria; identifying the tourist destination points for tourists’ throughput via Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos; and ascertaining the perceived challenges of tourism in Nigeria and how the Nigerian Aviation Industry can mitigate them using descriptive and inferential statistics. The primary data were elicited through a well-structured and concise questionnaire, while secondary data were collected from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) an agency of the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs of Nigeria. The findings showed that there are no records with the NIS and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria where passengers arriving into Nigeria are captured as tourists. The study showed that 13.98% of international passengers arriving at Murtala Mohammed International Airport are tourists. For international passengers leaving Nigeria, 15% percent of them would be tourists. In the same airport but at the domestic wings, 12.03% and 12.79% percent of passengers arriving and departing from MMIA would be tourists. This therefore implies that at any point in time 13.82% of passengers using the airport are tourists, it was also observed from the regression analysis output that the most significant variables that influenced most (has the greatest influence for challenges to air tourism as considered by the arriving international passengers at the MMIA were (in descending order) lack of awareness, lack of all-in-one package, price of packages, poor transport connectivity and fear of security and safety issues. All the factors were very significant. The study recommended strongly, the need to profile those entering and exiting Nigeria to know their purpose of visitation.
