‎The Federal Government has backed the launch of MyCityApp, a Nigerian city discovery and tourism platform designed to aggregate festivals, concerts and lifestyle experiences into a single digital calendar.

MyCityApp officially launched the 100-Day Tourism Calendar on Monday at the Ember2Remember National Stakeholders’ Conference in Victoria Island, Lagos, with the initiative targeting Nigeria’s estimated $100 billion tourism and creative economy opportunity.

‎The conference brought together public and private sector stakeholders to harness the September-to-December festive season for job creation, investment and economic growth by promoting tourism, cultural and creative activities across the country.

Speaking at the launch, the Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, said millions of visitors come into Nigeria every year to celebrate, reconnect and spend across different cities and communities, creating opportunities that can be converted into jobs and investment.

Musawa said the initiative would move beyond the traditional concept of a festive season by deliberately organising, packaging, promoting and monetising one of the country’s most economically active periods. She noted that visitors generate economic value across aviation, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, retail, technology, artisanship and local communities.

The Minister called on state governments, event organisers, tourism operators, hospitality businesses and other stakeholders to upload festivals, concerts, exhibitions, cultural celebrations, fashion and sporting events, conferences and other tourism experiences scheduled for September to December to the national calendar.

‎Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of MyCityApp, Ifeoma Chukwu, said Nigeria’s rich culture and creative industries provide significant opportunities to build a $100 billion tourism economy. She cited the contributions of tourism to the economies of Spain, France and the United States as evidence that Nigeria could achieve a similar milestone.

MyLagosApp and MyCityApp are expected to serve as the digital engines for the calendar, distributing events through a 360-degree media ecosystem to Nigerians at home and in the diaspora. Stakeholders were urged to upload their events through the MyCityApp platform, while government officials, industry leaders and other stakeholders attended the launch.