The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, in an effort to revive cultural tourism in Ile-Ife, Osun State, has renovated over 50 heritage sites across the ancient city.
Speaking at a press conference to commence the 2022 annual “Aje” festival at the Ooni’s Palace, Ile-Ife, the monarch’s spokesperson, Mr Moses Olafare, said that the Ooni’s intention was to revive cultural tourism and use it to provide jobs for the teeming youthful populace in the town and Osun State as a whole.
He stressed that the redefined ‘Aje’ festival is to allow for cross-fertilisation of ideas with a view to project the cultural event to the whole world.
According to him, the “Ooni has since his ascension of the throne, dedicated time and resources to the development of tourism. He has renovated over 50 heritage sites in Ile-Ife to revive cultural tourism.
“Parts of the reason is to ensure that our youths are gainfully employed through the sector since many nations depend largely on tourism for survival, it is Kabiyesi’s belief that we can replicate the same feat here too.
“The essence of introducing this summit to this year’s festival is to allow for fresh ideas on making the festival a global event, while the teeming youth population is given a sense of belonging in the event.”
He posited that “the summit will be looking at different sectors including health, culture, education, technology among others,” Olafare said.
He added that the festival is aimed at mixing tradition with technology with a view to attracting young entrepreneurs in the tourism sector.
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