2 months ago
24 ARTICLE AD
National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies logo
The National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies is advocating for greater flexibility in dollar sales for Nigerian travel agents.
The President of NANTA, Yinka Folami, told The PUNCH that flexible dollar sales would accommodate more of its members who face challenges due to restrictions in the current trading system.
He noted that the association remained in active dialogue to address the concerns of travel practitioners who were unable to trade in dollars due to limitations in the International Air Transport Association wallet system, which only permits transactions in naira.
“The conversations are still on. We have presented a position, and I believe they are looking into it. We are hopeful that they will consider the deliberations of our meetings, and it will be open to more of our members who are travel practitioners,” Folami stated.
According to Folami, one of the major issues is the inability of certain practitioners to trade in foreign currencies.
“If you sell in dollars, there are some categories of practitioners that are unable to trade in dollars because the wallet system they keep in IATA only permits naira sales,” he explained.
A former President of NANTA and exco member, Susan Akpdoriaye, said, “The criteria remain the same. Nothing has changed in the visa processing sector. But what has changed is that it does not have to be Emirates Airline alone.
“Before, one of the criteria was that you must produce a ticket, and it had to be Emirates airline. But now, if you are using the UAE submission centre, which is the Emirates Visa Center, then the tickets you have to produce as part of the requirements must be Emirates tickets.
“But if you use Destination Management Companies in Dubai that are licensed to issue the visa, then it doesn’t have to be an Emirates ticket—it can be any other airline.”
Akpdoriaye disclosed that the UAE had introduced new short-term visa options.
“They have introduced 48-hour, 72-hour, and 96-hour visas, which equate to two, three, and four-day visas. Those visas don’t go through the regular process. Their conditions are different,” the official explained.
According to her, for these short-term visas, travellers using Emirates must present onward travel tickets and meet different criteria than those applying for longer stays.
“They have also introduced stopover visas for travellers who want to spend a few days in Dubai before continuing to their final destination, like London.
“This type of visa doesn’t have many criteria, but you must have a visa for your final destination, and the ticket must show that you are going further beyond Dubai. So that’s the new addition they have introduced,” she added.
Recall that NANTA met with representatives of Emirates last week to deliberate on the airline’s decision to sell tickets in dollars to Nigerians.
“We, the excos, have decided that we are going to engage further, that even if they want to sell in dollars, they should still give the option of naira,” Akporiaye said.
