Most Nigerians don’t consider travel a priority, survey reveals

A survey carried out by British Airways has revealed that majority of Nigerians do not consider travelling a priority.

The survey which had more than 2000 respondents in 10 countries found that 47% of the respondents consider travel as one of the most important things they would love to achieve in 2017.

According to the survey results, 41% of Nigerians and 36% of their South African counterparts consider travel a priority while Indians and the Chinese consider travel a priority at 70 and 61 percent respectively.

“South Africans are less impressed than most with 61% paying no heed to where the who’s who holiday. By contrast, 32% of Nigerians say celebrity affirmation is a major factor in choosing a destination and 27% saying that it is quite important,” the report read.

“There is some consensus about which cities feature on their 2017 to-do list, with South Africans citing Paris (34%), London (32%) and New York (29%). For Nigerians New York tops the list (37%), followed by London (36%) and Paris (33%).

“51% of respondents say they will learn a new language to facilitate their travels, although only 38% of South Africans feel this is necessary compared to 63% of Nigerians. Travellers from the UK are least likely to expand their linguistic skills with only 16% saying they’d be interested.”

French topped the list of languages respondents were keen on learning with 73% of Nigerians and 37% of South Africans wanting to use the language to impress Parisian waiters.

Other languages of interest were Spanish, German, Italian and Mandarin for both groups.

Nearly half of the respondents, 48%, agree that creating amazing memories is the main reason they look forward to travelling. Nigerians are particularly fond of their travel memories, with 69% of them citing them as motivation.

“Who knew that Nigerians were so sentimental?” asks Kola Olayinka, British Airways commercial manager for Nigeria. “I’d assumed that sightseeing or enjoying a family holiday would’ve topped the list of reasons why we travel.”

“These occasional surveys help us test our assumptions and can provide some helpful customer insights. For example South Africans generally aren’t interested in celebrity destinations, but it is more of a consideration for Nigerians.”