Impact of COVID-19 on Lekki Conservation Centre, Lagos Nigeria

The global economic system has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The tourism industry is one of the most affected sectors due to unprecedented restrictions imposed on human mobility and interaction to curb the spread of the virus. Lekki Conservation Center Lagos, a natural reserve managed by Nigerian Conservation Foundation is one of the tourists’ destinations affected by the pandemic. This article investigates the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on tourism in Lekki Conservation Center Lagos. To achieve this, onsite observation, key informant interviews and in-depth interviews were conducted with employees, and some selected patrons of the destination. It was discovered that the center lost lots of revenue following the lockdown. However, the management was able to take care of its recurrent expenditure such as the payment of their employee’s salaries from their savings and funding received from stakeholders. The influx of tourists to the center after the lockdown was as a result of its open nature and the COVID-19 preventive measures put in place therein. These measures considerably increased the running cost of the center. The study therefore recommends that tourists’ destinations should be given financial incentives and tax holiday by the government to enable them recover quickly from the impact of the pandemic.