Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) has begun biometric data registration of workers in the hospitality industry in a move to tackle growing crime in the industry.
With the database from the registration, NTDC said “we can trace hotel workers with the biometrics project and ensure that hotel workers do not commit a crime in one hotel and go to another hotel and repeat the same crime. If a staff commits a crime, we will flash it immediately and it will be in our database.”
Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, director-general, NTDC, said that the introduction of the biometric data registration for workers in the hospitality industry would help redeem the country’s image in the diaspora.
NTDC is partnering with and Orbit Technologies in the project touted as the first of its kind in West Africa.
Runsewe said that that a lot of hoteliers had engaged in some fraudulent activities which ended up denting the image of the nation abroad.
He further stated that this is part of the developmental programmes of the nation which would distinguish Nigeria from the rest of the world, as it would help reduce crime in the tourism industry and the country.
“This strategy will help in the Transformation Agenda of President Jonathan and this is our contribution.
“This industry transformation is total; nobody can distract the vision of NTDC. Tourism must thrive in Nigeria”, he added.
Runsewe, however, called on hotel managements to partner the corporation in order to actualise the task, which he said would also help the hotels to monitor the activities of their staff.
He explained that with the biometric data registration you can trace the movement of hospitality staff by tracking persons with questionable characters in the industry and further reduce insecurity in the nation.
Runsewe further stated that the biometrics would aid the corporation to update the activities of some erring hoteliers on the corporation’s portals and advise tourists and hotel users to visit the portals to know the hoteliers in Nigeria.
He stated that the biometric data registration is 100 percent sponsored by the NTDC and added that “This is most crucial and important thing we have to do for the country.
“Nobody would come to a country where there is no good data base in their hospitality industry”, he said.
Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, chairman of Orbit Technologies and Investment Ltd, said that this step taken by NTDC was a milestone in the history of the hospitality business in Nigeria while assuring that the project will take care in part, of the security challenge the nation is facing.
The pilot he informed will take care of hotels in Abuja followed by Lagos before going to other states.