By Onyekachi Victoria Philip
The Youth African Tourism Expedition (YATE), an initiative of tourism entrepreneur Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, is designed to expose young people to tourism, recreation, African culture and entrepreneurship while creating a new generation of tourism industry participants.
Unveiled in 2023, YATE was introduced as the second of Akinboboye’s planned 52 tourism products, following the Diaspora Nigeria Economic Recovery Programme (DNERP).
The initiative targets young people between the ages of 15 and 40, including undergraduates, young business executives, tourism enthusiasts and other youths interested in travel and recreation.
At its core, YATE is built around the idea that young people should not only learn about tourism in classrooms but should also experience it practically.
Akinboboye has consistently identified the lack of adequate tourism education as one of the challenges affecting the development of Nigeria’s tourism sector. Through YATE, he seeks to give youths direct exposure to hospitality, recreation, travel and destination experiences.
The initiative combines tourism with recreational activities such as swimming, table tennis, snooker, games, team bonding, outdoor cooking, roasting and other activities designed to encourage interaction among participants.
However, Akinboboye’s vision for YATE goes beyond entertainment.
A major component of the initiative is youth entrepreneurship. The concept provides a template that young tourism entrepreneurs can adopt by organising YATE experiences for schools, students, youth groups and other organisations.
Under the model, young entrepreneurs can take the programme to schools, organise participants and earn commissions, thereby turning tourism experiences into income-generating opportunities.
This makes YATE both a tourism product and a potential business model for young Nigerians.
The initiative also reflects Akinboboye’s belief that tourism can contribute to employment creation and economic development. By encouraging young people to participate in tourism, YATE can create opportunities not only for tour operators but also for transport providers, hospitality businesses, caterers, event organisers, photographers, guides and other service providers.
Another major objective of YATE is to encourage young Africans to explore Africa.
Rather than viewing tourism primarily as travelling outside the continent, the initiative encourages young people to discover African destinations, cultures, landscapes and hospitality experiences.
This supports Akinboboye’s wider vision of positioning Nigeria as a major tourism destination and developing tourism products that can attract both domestic and international visitors.
YATE also has a youth-development dimension.
Akinboboye has linked productive tourism and recreation with the need to reduce youth restiveness by giving young people positive experiences, exposure and opportunities to develop entrepreneurial interests.
The programme therefore seeks to combine fun, education, travel, social interaction and business opportunities.
Schools and universities are particularly important to the YATE concept because students represent a significant part of its target market. Rather than limiting tourism education to theoretical studies, the programme provides an avenue through which young people can experience tourism directly.
The initiative also fits into Akinboboye’s broader 52 tourism products agenda, which was designed to create different tourism experiences and stimulate economic activity within the Nigerian tourism sector.
YATE was identified as the second product in that programme.
The broader vision is to transform tourism from an underutilised resource into an industry capable of generating jobs, businesses and wealth across communities.
For YATE, young people occupy a central position in that vision.
They are not expected to remain only tourists or consumers of tourism services. They can become tour operators, destination managers, hospitality entrepreneurs, event organisers, travel consultants and other professionals within the tourism value chain.
Ultimately, YATE represents Akinboboye’s attempt to connect youth development with tourism development.
Its message is that young people should be introduced to tourism early, encouraged to explore Africa, given practical tourism experiences and shown how the sector can become a source of employment and entrepreneurship.
With its combination of youth empowerment, tourism education, African exploration, recreation and entrepreneurship, YATE forms an important part of Akinboboye’s wider vision for the future of Nigerian and African tourism.
