“Visitors should expect a rich cultural experience, including traditional performances, local arts, heritage displays, indigenous cuisine and a special pounded yam arena designed to showcase the hospitality and culinary identity of Ipole-Iloro and Ekiti State”
Ekiti monarch takes pride in Arinta Waterfall’s potentials as it hosts World Tourism Day celebrations
By John Odunayo
The Olupole of Ipole-Iloro, Oba Ezekiel Babatola Oladele, has expressed his community’s delight at the choice of Arinta Waterfalls as the venue for the celebration of this year’s World Tourism Day.
World Tourism Day celebration is billed for Sunday, September 27.
Oba Oladele, who described the development as a major opportunity to project Arinta Waterfalls, one of Ekiti State’s important natural tourism assets, to a wider audience, expressed the host community’s readiness to receive visitors and stakeholders for the celebration of World Tourism Day 2026.
The monarch said, “Visitors should expect a rich cultural experience, including traditional performances, local arts, heritage displays, indigenous cuisine and a special Pounded Yam Arena designed to showcase the hospitality and culinary identity of Ipole-Iloro and Ekiti State”.
He said that the theme of this year’s World Tourism Day, ‘Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism’, “is particularly relevant to Arinta Waterfalls because modern tourism increasingly depends on digital visibility, online mapping, photography, videography, social media, digital storytelling and emerging technologies.
“The celebration will provide a practical opportunity to demonstrate how digital tools can be deployed to promote Arinta Waterfalls, improve its visibility and attract more visitors”.
Oba Oladele said that the photographs, videos, media reports and digital content expected from the event would continue to promote the destination long after the celebration.
He called on community leaders, youths, women, artisans, food vendors and cultural groups to support the programme and present the best of Ipole-Iloro to visitors.
The monarch said, “Ipole-Iloro is ready. Arinta is ready. Our culture is ready. Our food is ready. Our people are ready to welcome the world.”
The World Tourism Day celebration at Arinta Waterfalls is expected to bring together tourism and hospitality operators, digital innovators, students, media practitioners, content creators, youth entrepreneurs, traditional institutions and government stakeholders.
The programme will combine tourism, culture, cuisine, technology and destination promotion in a practical demonstration of how digital innovation can be used to strengthen existing tourism assets and stimulate local economic activity.
