The Federal Government has endorsed a 100-day tourism calendar aimed at bringing together Nigeria’s festivals, concerts, cultural events and lifestyle experiences on a single digital platform.

The initiative, powered by MyCityApp and MyLagosApp, was unveiled at the Ember2Remember National Stakeholders’ Conference in Victoria Island, Lagos, according to the Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa.

The calendar is designed to maximise the economic opportunities associated with the September-to-December festive period by connecting visitors, Nigerians in the diaspora and local consumers with tourism and cultural experiences across the country.

Musawa said the government wanted to move beyond viewing the festive season solely as a period of celebration and instead use it to create jobs, attract investment and expand business opportunities.

She said tourism generated economic activity across aviation, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, retail, technology and the creative industries.

The minister urged state governments, event organisers, tourism operators, hospitality businesses and other stakeholders to upload their activities scheduled for the period onto the national calendar.

She said the platform would serve as a single destination through which Nigerians, members of the diaspora and international visitors could discover events and tourism experiences across the country.

Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of MyCityApp, Ifeoma Chukwu, said Nigeria could build a $100bn tourism economy if its cultural assets and visitor experiences were deliberately packaged and monetised.

Chukwu said the target was achievable based on the contribution of tourism to major economies globally, adding that Nigeria should maximise its extensive cultural and creative assets.

The initiative comes as the Federal Government seeks to diversify economic activity beyond oil and increase the contribution of tourism, culture and creative industries to national development.

The digital calendar is expected to improve the visibility and coordination of events across different states while helping visitors identify and plan experiences across Nigeria.