LAGOS – Mr. Frank Meke, the multi-talented print and broadcast journalist, has won the ‘2024 Pioneer Tourism Journalism Leadership Award.
The award is instituted by the National Tourism Transportation Awards, a corporate flagship arm of Institute of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ITPN).
A statement by ITPN, said that Meke, who cut his journalism teeth at Vanguard Newspapers and helped pioneer the newspaper’s revered travel and tourism pages, is also a pioneer awardee of ‘Nigerian Travel Journalism Award’ by National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA).
He was also a ‘Tourism Advocate’ awardee by National Association of Nigeria Tour Operators (NATOP) and many others for his incisive developmental reports on the industry for over three decades.
Widely travelled and Nigerian tourism-centric, Meke is a notable cultural tourism columnist and broadcaster, pioneering Nigeria’s first cultural tourism broadcast programme on Radio.
Meke, a maritime tourism influencer, is also a certified Nature Conservation Educationist and Mobiliser.
He is also a trustee of the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN) and National Association of Tourist Boat Operators and Water Transporters of Nigeria (ATBOWATON).
In a letter dated November 22, 2024, and signed by Shettima Abdullahi, Fellow Institute of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (FITPN) for the organisers of award, Meke was nominated for the award based on his achievements and demonstration of high level of excellence and standards in the reportage and interpretation of travel tourism, transportation and hospitality sectors of Nigerian economy.
The award would be conferred on Meke on Wednesday, December 4, during the dinner and gala night of National Tourism Transportation Summit in Abuja.