Leisure Tourism a Vital Tool for the Development of Hospitality Industry in Nigeria

Abstract

Hospitality industry can be described as the section of the service industry concerned with guests’ reception and the provision of pleasant guest experiences, and it involves the operation of accommodation, restaurants, and entertainment facilities. Hospitality can be identified as a place where meals, beverages, lodging, and entertainment are provided to travellers and guests for profit. Leisure is free time when you are not meeting social or bodily needs and is comprised of activities, time, and freedom to take an active part in the leisure activities, for example, going on a game drive, swimming, fitness/Gym, mountain climbing, and sporting activities. Hospitality and leisure industry provides all the services for these activities and supplies the tourist with their basic needs. The focus of this paper, therefore, is to find out and ascertain how leisure Tourism activities could drive the development of the hospitality sector through the type of services provided. Hospitality industry is a business sector consisting of such types of services that are based on the principles of hospitality, characterised by generosity and friendliness toward visitors, providing added services at no cost and others at a cost to develop the sector. The paper concludes that a good way to think of hospitality is to view it as providing a home away from home for people to enjoy and doesn’t only mean a place that serves as accommodation but also offers various leisure experiences to its clientele. The paper recommends that Leisure tourism attraction should be promoted with hotel characteristics using unique sceneries and should be closely linked to tourist attraction or customer equity