With all arrangements in place for a successful staging of the week long Lagos Carnival 2010, and Black Heritage Festival, Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, has urged all operators of hospitality and events businesses in Lagos to treat visitors with utmost courtesy.

Fashola, at a press briefing in Ikeja, said if the visitors are well treated, they can come back next year and keep them as valued customers for a long time to come.” He said the state government decided to leverage on the enormous tourism and economic development potentials of the carnival and Black Heritage Festival events, which would hold from tomorrow to April 9, 2010, by integrating them into the World Heritage Festival as the high point of a week of exposition of African culture, when Lagos will host millions of people from various parts of the world.“As our state continues to become a beacon of social and economic development and as our guests from far and near begin to arrive, I urge you to receive them with warmth and welcoming smiles and let them feel our world famous Lagos hospitality from end to end.”

While emphasizing that the Lagos Carnival will be a celebration of the city’s ancestry and plurality of identity, Fashola said 92.3 per cent of the intending 14,500 participants in the Carnival will be drawn from areas outside Lagos Island, which was the traditional base of street carnivals.

He said the carnival would be land and sea based, and urged spectators to be casually attired and mindful of one of the marine creatures, explaining that the routes which would be demanding on participants would be lined by food and drink booths, while conveniences are provided intermittently along the route.

“For this day, restaurants and eateries along the route are encouraged to extend their seating areas outside their premises without obstructing sidewalks or the carnival routes. Spectators are also encouraged to watch the carnival from any point along the route, as all troupes will be visible from any point.

“Although all the troupes will eventually converge at the Tafawa Balewa Square for the viewing comfort of individuals and families, especially children, admission to the TBS is free,” he said.