A communication card designed to enable Nigerian and foreign tourists communicate with their loved ones, has been launched in Abuja.
Dr. Felix Obada, vice chairman, e-Tourism Limited, owners of the new product, said that the card, known as the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication card, is a pre-paid calling card that can be used on any GSM network for international calls.
He said the launch of the VoIP card will knock off the roaming charges by telephone operators as users can now call from any part of the world at localized tariff.
‘Everything is on communication; without communication there is no business, so we have made this card very cheap and it can be used anywhere because it is satellite based. It is going to knock off the N600 for calls and N60 per text roaming charge,’ Obada explained.
Segun Oladunni, managing director, e-Tourism Limited, disclosed that the advantages of the card include its versatility, call quality, cost effectiveness and convenience.
‘People can even purchase the card over the Internet, from the comfort of their homes,’ he noted; while disclosing that the card is currently available in the market and is sold at airport terminals, partner banks, street shops, hotels, over the Internet, among other places.
Unveiling the new product in Abuja, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, noted that it is necessary that tourists in the country be assured of seamless communication with their families back home.
‘Tourists need to know that they can call home and other places even when on a tour,’ Kayode remarked.
Applauding the Federal Government’s decision to pay more attention to the tourism sector, Otunba Solomon Oladunni, chairman, e-Tourism Limited, stated that the introduction of the tourism communication card is a step aimed at stimulating growth in the sector.
‘We recognize the importance of ICT in developing the tourism industry, which is an industry with endless possibilities and prospects of becoming the most important sector to the economic emancipation of Nigeria in a few years,’ said he.
Recharging mobile phone with VoIP tourism card is as simple as recharging your phone with the normal GSM recharge card. Just enter your trigger number, listen to the voice prompt, and then enter your PIN number. Calls with the VoIP tourism card can go as low as N15 per minute as in the case with Canada and America; and the card can also be used to make Internet calls.
Among other products launched at the forum were the Tourism Cash Card and National and State Tourism Portals.
‘Such e-Applications have impacted greatly on the hospitality sub-sector’, said Goodie Ibru, chairman, Ikeja Hotel Plc who noted that they have powered tour planning, making hotel reservations, car rentals, payment for services.
