Tina Nwanya: ‘Collaboration is the future of travel & tours business in Africa'!
Tina Nwanya: ‘Collaboration is the future of travel & tours business in Africa'!
Tina Nwanya, Senior Travel Consultant, Nje Tour Limited
In this interview, Tina Nwanya wows us, as she shares with Renn Offor, Managing Editor, MyExperience Africa, taking us into the very special landmarks on her sojourn so far, the very unique secrets that standout Njetour Limited and her unique secrets that would inspire any person seeking to find their purpose and direction in their pursuit for success.
Tina Nwanya is the young, dynamic Senior Travel Consultant at NjeTour Limited, a modern technology driven travel and tours agency. She is a graduate of Sociology and Anthropology from Obafemi Awolowo University and graduated in 2011. Her passion for travel and tours long before entering into the University as her parents happened to be business people who traveled a great deal.
Group tour to Singapore
Tina, as an undergraduate of the ‘Great Ife’, became a member of The Travel Club at the University. She actually started her initial tour packaging to Ghana while still an undergraduate. Today, within a decade after graduating, she has grown her passion into a growing global travel brand with a litany of awards and she has traveled to so many destinations across the world! Her latest was her award as the ‘100 Under 40s CEOs' at the 19th Akwaaba Africa Travel Market 2023 last September at the annual exhibitions in Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Enjoy the interview below:
Hello Tina, good day. Please, tell us about yourself, your background and what actually attracted you into the travel industry?
Tina: Okay, my name is Tina Nwanya. So, I like to call myself ‘T’ to the ‘I', to the ‘N', to the ‘A' of Nje Tours Limited. So, what attracted me into travel and tours? I schooled in Nigeria, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. I actually started taking people on tours to Ghana while I was in my final year at the ‘Great Ife'. So, we were in the Tourism Club though I read Sociology and Anthropology. I've been going to Ghana and exploring the towns. Personally, I love to explore and I normally would go to Ghana to spend some time and explore. Later, when I got a job and the management said we needed to organize a trip to Ghana for school children, it was very easy because everything about Ghana was at my finger tips!
Tina Nwanya
Then, we mostly use the road transport system, ABC Transport, precisely! I love ABC Transport. One thing I love about land transportation is that you get to pass through Benin Republic, Togo and then Ghana. That means you get to see things and you get to experience the countries and the cities along the road. Though it’s a long journey on the road, but trust me, it is worth it.
So, what actually pulled me into the travel industry was when one of my siblings wanted to travel out of the country; fortunately or unfortunately, we fell into the wrong hand of a supposed travel agent.
Immediately we found out that he was not a genuine person, my mom insisted we call him and said, ‘ Hey, let’s settle this thing amicably. We don't want to involve the police'. So, he refunded our money and we just ended the whole transaction with him. It was at that point that I said, ‘Okay, I'm gonna go into this industry and then save people from falling into the wrong hands. That was one of the major incidents that contributed to my joining the industry’!
Again, when one wants to travel out of the country, the amount of money they call makes it seem like travelling is only meant for rich people. Then I said to myself, you know, ‘If I come into the traveling industry, I'm going to make my business very affordable that everybody could travel'. It was after that that I coined out our slogan, ‘Affordable luxury'! The name of my company is Nje Tours Limited. I sat down with my mom and coined out the name, ‘Nje Tour'. So, ‘Nje’ is an Igbo word that means, ‘journey’, I’m from Orlu in Imo State, precisely. So, we just came with ‘Onye ije', meaning a traveler. So, that's the beauty of using the traditional meaning and the English words together and it became ‘Nje Tours Limited.
All right, So far, what has been your experience as a travel Consultant?
Tina: My journey as a Travel Consultant has not been easy but fun! My experience, has been that of the good, the bad and the ugly. You get a situation whereby some people will call you and say you’re not a genuine person. Some will call and tell that you faulted in this angle, please send my money back. And then you also get the sweet responses, like , ‘Oh thank you for making my dream come true'! ‘Thank you for doing this. Thank you for doing that’. I can’t really say it's actually a bed of roses, you know because once in a while, you experience some challenges even when we don't want to experience those. But of course, that the human factor. So, definitely, you need to know how to manage such situations and then just remind us, that we are all humans. In such circumstances, you need to calm down and then say, okay, so how is it going to be? Then, we will have to find a common ground. So being a Travel Consultant, that it has not been easy but the sweeter part is when people come to recognize and appreciate your work and when you smiles of satisfaction your clients faces.
What is the unique thing about NjeTour Limited?
One of the unique things about Nje Tour Limited is that you’re sure of getting the right information. You’re sure of getting having those unforgettable and awesome memories when we package your travels, vacation and tour. At NjeTours Limited, we listen. We don’t just act! Those make us unique! We listen to you before we plan your vacation.
After listening, we can advise our clients, if they’re interested on visiting African Countries, say for instance, Kenya. We’ll, listen to you. We will be able to say, for client A, you're good to go to Nairobi. And for passenger B, we think we should do Mombasa for you. For passenger C, we think would think you'd do Diani Beach; for passenger D, we think you can go to Watamu. So, we'll listen to you and then know what suites you. We want to talk with you to have access to some basic information about you. So at Nje Tours Limited, we listen to you.
Tell us, what are the basic requirements if someone desires to travel to a destination like Mauritius?
Tina: To Travel to Mauritius, you need to have a valid travel international passports which must have a least 6 months vapidity. You need to also have your yellow fever vaccination card, as a Nigeria. But it might be different for other nationals. Then, you need your Basic Travel Allowances (BTA) because you may need to do some spending, buy some things for your hubby, family, have fun etc. For Mauritius, during the Covid-19 restrictions, you needed to have a Covid-19 vaccination card. And you also need to fill an arrival form, that’s the health declaration form and you will have a confirmed hotel, you need a confirmed flights. These are some of the basic things that you need to know. So, this is where we come in actually. If you already have these, then we act based on the information you give to us.
Now, say, I want to travel to Mauritius or I want to travel to Kenya; what is the average budget that would take me to Kenya. And I will spend like say 5 nights and back?
When it comes to travel, then you need to understand that there we’re talking about the seasons. So, you have the low season and then you have the high season. So, for instance, if you’re traveling during the low season, say traveling from May, June, July thereabout, give or take, if you are budgeting for one person, with flight and your staying in a 3 Star rated hotel, you should be budgeting for one million plus. Converting that to dollars, say like a $1,200 to $1,300 and it includes visa fees, your flights, accommodation, your visa, feeding, the tour. So, you see that don't have to be wealthy to travel the world!
On most of your tours and destination promotions, you're always dancing. So why are you always dancing?
Tina: Oh! (Giggles) That is a very beautiful one you know! I want people to be happy. I want people to laugh. I want people to smile. You know, the whole country, the whole world as at today, there’s tension everywhere and pressure everywhere. So I just want people, even for those who just have five or two minutes, I want them to smile, want them to laugh. So we're deliberate about doing that because we want people to know that no matter how difficult thing are, we want you to still laugh, be happy; and while you are laughing, you need to buy a vacation package, buy your ticket and then you travel to somewhere and relax! So, that's just the idea! (Laughs)
Going forward, travel agency business is profitable. How profitable is it?
Travel business as you know, to be honest, is actually very profitable because everybody would travel, people will buy tickets, people will lodge into an hotel, husbands will surprise their wives and vise versa… So, people would always be on air! People would always move within their cities like within Lagos, you to go to Badagry; leave Lagos to Abuja or leave Lagos to Obudu or go Dubai. It's that profitable if you know what you are doing.
Please, could you kindly differentiate between normal tours and business tours?
Okay, that's fine. We have what we call, ‘Biztour’, that’s business travel with vacation together. And we have what we call Business, tourism, travel and tours. For instance, we just had a group that arrived from Vietnam just recently. We had a tour to Vietnam. We called it ‘biztour', it was for those people who are into hair, clothing, the shoe, the beauty, skincare, everything! When we got to Vietnam, we made sure that their primary assignment was what brought them to this country. So, after they are done, of course, you don't want to just take your bags and then go back. You have to relax, see the environments that you are. We include city tours in our packages because the city tour will help you understand the country. Get to the beach side, go to the salon, see their everyday life, make your hair, check what you bought, do your calculations, well, everything. Plan how you're going to sell these things when you get to Nigeria! Of course, meets your business partners, exchange contacts and your emails and everything. You need to relax while doing that, no distractions. So, that is business and tourism. It will take you to experience the town while you are doing business.
We also have those who come for only business. So, for this, they have to do businesses all through. We set up meetings with partners for you. So, this kind of travel is really business. So, a maximum of three or four days and you are done. This is pure business for you, no pleasure. You know, for this package, we already create an itinerary for you. But if you say you're going for vacation to relax, ideally, 5 days, 7 days, 14 days is fine. Build your travel history. You want to apply for any of these countries like Canada, Australia, USA... Of course, we know how to plan those. You cannot just say you are going to Canada and you’re spending 14 days. No! There must be things you must use to fill up those days.
And then if you say you are going for educational tourism, Canada is there. Australia, the USA, the UK are there. So if you want for medical tourism, then it comes, India. We had those who went to Indian for medical tourism recently too. So, for medical, we guide you through from the hospital to the appointment at the embassy, to your flights to and from the Hospital. So those are various forms of tourism.
So, you want to go for MICE: that is for meetings, incentives travel, for a conference or events, for those in the corporate and management world, you have an event or you want to do a destination wedding, we know our partners to call. So, tourism is the wide. Tourism differs.
What are some of the challenges for women in the sector?
Tina: Plenty. Say, if you are married, there are some events that if your husband did not approve, you would not attend such events. If you go on trip, as a married woman, you need to carry yourself with wisdom and tact. Yes, you’re supposed to be free to do this and that and all you have to but you need have to do those with wisdom.
I remember a project we went on a tour to Mauritius. And then our clients wants to go to Club, so I had to call my local DMC person and requested where the nearest club is and we went. You’re the team leader, you don’t have to he carried away. I want to be sure that everybody is good. You have to he careful how you take your drinks when you’re out with the group and need to know how to tactfully communicate your displeasure when certain advances come your way and when to change partners if you get uncomfortable with a client's advanced. You just have to be very wise. So, for women in Africa in mind, I will flow with everybody but I know when to say no and when to get very reserved and when you have to restrict them. But there are some things that they might even want to get involved but because of the fact that you are a married person, and you don't want to get you involved in this kind of situation, so then, you have to restrict it like when a man starts calling you sweet names, pet names, you know. You should be that person should be able to tell the person to limit this.
And what about some of the memorable moments in your career?
Good. One of the memorable moments in my career is when you put out a tour package and you see a lot of people buying into it! Together with one of my colleagues in the industry, some time ago, we organized a tour, it was to Dubai and people bought into it so much that we were going with about a 100 people to Dubai! It was amazing! That was definitely a memorable moment in my career!
I remember when we did a tour to Japan and when we did a tour to Vietnam. It was like wow, wow! These are destinations that look difficult to penetrate but then we were able to break into those destinations that look impenetrable. Those are some of the high moments of my travel business.
And the awards! Yes! They are also memorable. One of the first awards when we started, I got an award from the Akwaaba African Travel Market. It was ‘wow’ and everybody was just like asking, Nje Tours! Hey, who is that girl?! You know, that too was a very memorable moment in my life and career. You know, if you come into my office, you will see where I hung it there. Then Sun International also recognized Nje Tour Limited as one of the Top Achievers in Nigeria! Yes, Sun International!
Moving forward, what do you see as the future of the travel and tours business in Nigeria and Africa?
Tina: The future of the travel and tour business in this country and Africa is gearing towards collaboration! That’s one of the biggest thing that will happen in the travel and tour industry because you can see now that more and more tour operators are collaborating. “I can't do this. You can't do that. But together, we can. And you see that most of the things that limit one person, when you come and you come. Everybody, we all come and then we form this synergy, then, we break into the markets that we feel Africa cannot.
An example. Someone flew into Nigeria from France and then he picked Nje Tours Limited. They want to open a resort or something and they want to do a survey, so, they flew all the way down from France and they want us to come and see it. So, if Africa or Nigeria is not an important market, they would not fly down.
So many European are looking for places to go and they their markets. For instance, Kenya. Anybody that is coming to Africa from the Europe, if you have not to Kenya, it's more or less like you've not even started to tour Africa! So Africa has placed himself on that map! Or anybody that is coming to Nigeria, part of the place they have at the top of their list is Badagary Slave center and we have the Obudu Cattle Ranch and Mountain Resort. And if you've not been to Nike Art Gallery it's like, what are you going to Nigeria to do?!
Tell us about your tours and adventures. Which destinations do promote for your tour? You do tours within Nigeria, to African Countries and beyond?
Tina: Okay, we do Africa. We do Asia. We do UAE. In most of the countries that we do tours, we do have partners. We don't just do tours all on our own because, like I said, collaboration is the bedrock of a successful travel and tours company. From last year we have done tours to almost all the continents in the world! We have done tours to Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam. Qatar is coming soon. UK, London, yes, Europe. Canada is private tours; US is private tours. Of course, we do private tours for the specific groups, families and individuals. So, from UAE, Qatar to Africa; Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles, Uganda, Rwanda, Gambia, Maldives: of course, that is one of our Best selling destination! And then we have educational tours to Kenya. So you see most of the other.
You have become an important person that many colleagues and travel clients turn to for the right information whenever the need arises, how did you do it?
We also get to find out things. So, when we want to get some information we do our research very well. And then confirm. So, before we put out any information, we confirm and ask from our friends who are very versed and connected in travel. So we ensure we get the right information and ensure that what we are saying is confirmed!
So, now, who are your role models?
Tina: First, my mom! My mom has been traveling right from the age of 18! And I can confidently tell say that my mom has been to almost all the countries in the world! Not just Africa but in the whole world! So for every sector of every country, my mom would be able to tell you about that particular country, about their culture. And I can say, ‘Ma'am, is it possible to do this, this that?’ My mom will tell you, this country, yes it that country, no! My daddy travels too! I could remember when my mom and my dad used to package Pakistani visa, as far as when I was in primary school! So, my mom has been a business person.
Again, another of my role model in the travel and tourism industry is Mr. Ikechi Uko of the Akwaaba African Travel Market. He is someone I look up to in the industry. Himself, his family. He’s very private; he’s an achiever. He does his due diligence about information before he puts it out. Others I call my mentors who I look up to: Mr. Kelani Abolaji of Aerovessel Travel & Tours Limited and Mrs. Ifedayo of Fidol Trips. So, those are the people. Thank you.
What is your life's principle?
Tina: Do unto others what you want them to do to you! This is a matrix that I operate and live by.
Where is your dream destination in Africa?
Tina: Kenya!
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