Tourists have been known to see certain sites shown in movies and have gone to visit the places where the scenes were filmed, for example, the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, Disney Land, Tajmahal, the Giza pyramids , the Great Wall of China, among others. Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, the filming location of Harry Potter, has seen an astronomical increase in visitors since it became the film set for Hogwarts.

Nollywood filmmakers, to say the least, have not capitalized on this aspect. The filming locations are mainly people’s houses, some restaurants, clothing and accessories stores. The shots on the beaches failed to capture the beauty and essence of nature, synonymous with those places. In particular, two movies have shot scenes that capture the beauty of the waterfalls that created the much-desired tourist effect.

AMBO’s “White Waters” (directed by Izu Ojukwu and starring Joke Silva, Rita Dominic and OC Ukeje) captured the “Farin Ruwa Water Falls” in Nassarawa State. Kunle Afolayan’s “figurine, araromire” captured “Erin Ijesha Waterfalls” in Osun State. Both waterfalls boosted cinematic content and both films took home awards at the respective AMAA events.

Nollywood producers must take advantage of various tourist locations to shoot their movies, such as Obudu cattle ranch, Olumo rock, Yankari national park, Shere hills, Ikogosi hot springs, Jos wildlife park, hill of the three sisters, the hills of Idanre, the blue rose of the Azumini river. , Gurara Falls, Lake Oguta Complex, Agbokim Falls, Coconut, Alpha, Lekki, Eleko, Kuramo, and Akode Beaches, among others.

Historic sites can be shown in adventure-prone movies and especially with a creative screenwriter who can surround such sites with scenes involving mystery and suspense. Such historical sites include the First Floor Building in Nigeria, the Slave Harbor Jetty and Market, the Ancient City Walls and Kano Gates, the Ancient Walls with Seven Gates (Katsina), the Mongo Parks Cenotaph and Zungeru (tombs of more than a hundred colonial aids of the gentleman lugard (Niger), Kpambo and Fikiyu Mystery Rocks (Taraba) among others.

Stories can be told revolving around priceless artifacts/relics found in museums, eg relics from the Akassa raid (Rivers sate), relics in the National War Museum (Abia), Gidan Makaman (kano) , Oron Museum (Akwa Ibom), Lagos, Benin , Tray can be used to create an amazing movie. Even the use of luxury hotels and resorts has not been fully explored by filmmakers such as Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Eko Hotel and Suites, Transcorp Hilton, Protea Hotel Obudu ranch resort, La Campagene Tropicana beach resort. Some scenes of “The Figurine” by Kunle Afolayan, araromire, were shot at the Miccom Golf Hotel and Resorts.

Nollywood films are watched by millions of people in other countries through the export of Nollywood films or through DSTV’s “African Magic”, which shows Nollywood films to more than 1.5 million subscribers in Africa, Europe and Middle East. Yoruba and Hausa movies are said to have their own channels on the cable station where viewers can watch. Nigerians themselves are not exempt from visiting tourist sites. When such tourist spots record an astronomical increase in tourist influx, then the Governors, Hon’ble Commissioners of Tourism will be driven to team up with filmmakers to promote tourist sites within their jurisdiction, which would serve as a good alternative revenue for the states.

Film tourism has the potential to create a prosperous economic base for the nation and is a necessary catalyst for the rapid development of the Nigerian film industry.