Detty December: The rise of diaspora tourism in Nigeria

Decem­ber is peak month for tour­ism in Niger­ia thanks to the arrival of hun­dreds of thou­sands of expat­ri­ate Nigeri­ans and tour­ists with Nigeri­an her­it­age. Dia­spora tour­ism is a boon to Nigeri­a’s eco­nomy and a life­line to many of its ter­tiary indus­tries, includ­ing tour­ism. But can it be sus­tained and extended?

Thanks to “Good Tour­ism” Insight Part­ner Tourism’s Hori­zon: Travel for the Mil­lions for invit­ing Dr Shola Osinaike to write this “Good Tour­ism” Insight. (You too can write one.)

Unparalleled celebration

Over the past dec­ade, the month of Decem­ber in Niger­ia has trans­formed into a sea­son of unpar­alleled cel­eb­ra­tion, fest­iv­ity, and home­com­ing. Pop­ularly known as ‘Detty Decem­ber’, this peri­od has become syn­onym­ous with high-energy parties, con­certs, cul­tur­al events, and an influx of Nigeri­ans in the dia­spora return­ing to recon­nect with their roots. 

What was once a simple hol­i­day sea­son has evolved into a full-blown cul­tur­al spec­tacle that not only boosts loc­al eco­nom­ies but has also enhanced Nigeria’s des­tin­a­tion brand in the glob­al tour­ism marketplace. 

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Homecoming: The growth of Detty December in Nigeria

Dia­spora tour­ism, some­times called home­com­ing, is travel motiv­ated by per­son­al ties to a coun­try of ori­gin. For many Nigeri­ans liv­ing abroad, Detty Decem­ber is a chance to recon­nect with fam­ily, redis­cov­er cul­tur­al tra­di­tions, and par­ti­cip­ate in mod­ern festivities. 

Detty Decem­ber gained pop­ular­ity around 2018, driv­en largely by social media and the enter­tain­ment industry. It rep­res­ents the spir­it of unwind­ing after a long year, char­ac­ter­ised by a packed cal­en­dar of events, from music con­certs and fash­ion shows to beach parties and food fest­ivals. One of the most pop­u­lar fest­ivals, Africa’s biggest street party, the Calab­ar Fest­iv­al, takes place in December.

Read more about “Good Tour­ism” in Africa

The rise of Afrobeats as a glob­al music genre has been cent­ral to the Detty Decem­ber move­ment. Con­certs like Wizkid’s “Made in Lagos” Home­com­ing, Burna Boy’s “Lagos Loves Damini”, and Davido’s “Time­less” tour attract fans from all over the world. 

For many dia­spor­ans, these events are not just enter­tain­ment; they are per­ceived as cul­tur­al pil­grim­ages. Cit­ies like Lagos, Abuja, and Port Har­court serve as the epi­centres of these fest­iv­it­ies, draw­ing both loc­als and inter­na­tion­al visitors. 

The return of these tour­ists has a ripple effect on the eco­nomy. Accord­ing to Nigeria’s Nation­al Bur­eau of Stat­ist­ics, tour­ism and related sec­tors, includ­ing hos­pit­al­ity and retail, see a sig­ni­fic­ant increase in rev­en­ue dur­ing this season.

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Detty December’s economic impact

Hotels, short-term apart­ments, and trans­port­a­tion ser­vices bene­fit immensely from the influx of vis­it­ors. Plat­forms like Airb­nb and loc­al book­ing ser­vices report increased demand for accom­mod­a­tions, with prices often trip­ling in Decem­ber. Lux­ury ven­ues, lounges, and clubs exper­i­ence packed sched­ules, with some requir­ing advance book­ings for entry dur­ing major events. 

Fash­ion and retail sec­tors also thrive dur­ing this sea­son. Nigeri­ans are renowned for their fash­ion sense, and Detty Decem­ber presents an oppor­tun­ity for loc­al design­ers to show­case their col­lec­tions, as seen in events like the GTBank Fash­ion Weekend. 

Res­taur­ants and street food vendors exper­i­ence boom­ing busi­ness as tour­ists seek to indulge in Nigeria’s rich culin­ary offer­ings, from suya to jol­lof rice. 

Also read about Nigeria’s ‘Slow Food’ tour­ism poten­tial

In 2023, the Fed­er­al Air­ports Author­ity of Niger­ia (FAAN) repor­ted that over 1.3 mil­lion pas­sen­gers passed through Nigeri­an air­ports dur­ing December. 

In Decem­ber 2024, Lagos state gen­er­ated approx­im­ately NGN 111.5 bil­lion (~USD 73 mil­lion) in rev­en­ue from tour­ism, hos­pit­al­ity, and enter­tain­ment. Hotels earned NGN 54 bil­lion (~USD 35 mil­lion) from 15,000 book­ings (Lagos city saw more than 90% occu­pancy), while short-let apart­ments gen­er­ated NGN 21 bil­lion (~USD 14 mil­lion). Major enter­tain­ment ven­ues, includ­ing clubs, recor­ded daily rev­en­ues as high as NGN 360 mil­lion (~USD 235 mil­lion), which aligns with the Lagos State Government’s eco­nom­ic report. 

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Detty December on social media

Social media has played a pivotal role in amp­li­fy­ing Detty Decem­ber, trans­form­ing it from a loc­al fest­ive tra­di­tion into a glob­al cul­tur­al event. 

Plat­forms like Ins­tagram, Tik­Tok, and X have become key to pro­mot­ing con­certs, parties, and life­style exper­i­ences, often through influ­en­cers and celebrit­ies shar­ing real-time con­tent. Hasht­ags such as #Detty­Decem­ber and #IJGB (I Just Got Back) have helped cre­ate a shared iden­tity among dia­spor­ans and loc­als, fuel­ling anti­cip­a­tion and engagement. 

This digit­al expos­ure not only boosts event vis­ib­il­ity but also drives tour­ism and spend­ing by show­cas­ing Nigeria’s vibrant cul­ture to a glob­al audience.

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A bright future for diaspora tourism in Nigeria, if …

The suc­cess of Detty Decem­ber reflects the poten­tial of Nigeria’s tour­ism sec­tor to pack­age and present more than just nat­ur­al resources to the world. By cap­it­al­ising on its vibrant cul­ture, dynam­ic enter­tain­ment industry, and large dia­spora com­munity, Niger­ia can pos­i­tion itself as a lead­ing Afric­an des­tin­a­tion for exper­i­en­tial tourism. 

While the growth of dia­spora tour­ism is prom­ising, it comes with chal­lenges. Infra­struc­ture issues, traffic con­ges­tion, and secur­ity con­cerns can dampen the exper­i­ence for some vis­it­ors. With improved infra­struc­ture, effect­ive mar­ket­ing strategies, and inter­na­tion­al part­ner­ships, Detty Decem­ber can serve as a mod­el for year-round tour­ism growth. The Fed­er­al Min­istry of Art, Cul­ture, Tour­ism, and Cre­at­ive Eco­nomy in its Des­tin­a­tion 2030 ini­ti­at­ive echoes the need to address these issues and pos­i­tion Niger­ia as a glob­al tour­ism hub. 

Nigeria’s des­tin­a­tion man­agers could take advant­age of Detty Decem­ber to devel­op and launch new tour­ism strategies, which might include pub­lic-private part­ner­ship invest­ment in infra­struc­ture, mar­ket­ing cam­paigns, cre­at­ive indus­tries, and sup­port for small and medi­um enter­prises in fash­ion, tech­no­logy, her­it­age, events, and hos­pit­al­ity. Such year-round activ­ity and engage­ment could help sus­tain eco­nom­ic growth bey­ond the fest­ive season. 

There is a press­ing need to devel­op a sus­tain­able mod­el and stra­tegic policy to sup­port the growth of this valu­able and vibrant form of tour­ism. As we approach anoth­er Detty Decem­ber, gov­ern­ments and des­tin­a­tion man­age­ment boards should con­sider strategies now to strengthen loc­al infra­struc­ture to sup­port increased num­bers, lever­age a wider array of cul­tur­al activ­it­ies to encour­age dis­per­son, and improve secur­ity to guar­an­tee dia­spora tourism’s con­tri­bu­tion to the eco­nomy this year and long into the future.

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A celebration of identity

In con­clu­sion, the rise of Detty Decem­ber exem­pli­fies the power of cul­tur­al fest­ivals and tour­ism to strengthen nation­al iden­tity, boost the eco­nomy, and recon­nect people across con­tin­ents. For every Nigeri­an in the dia­spora dream­ing of warm Decem­ber nights filled with music, dance, and the dis­tinct­ive aroma of street food, the jour­ney home is not just a vaca­tion; it is a cel­eb­ra­tion of social belong­ing to a unique identity.

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What do you think? 

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About the author

Shola Osinaike is a prin­cip­al lec­turer and the head of tour­ism, hos­pit­al­ity, and events at Can­ter­bury Christ Church Uni­ver­sity, UK.

Dr Osinaike’s research interests include sus­tain­able busi­ness prac­tices, stra­tegic organ­isa­tion­al cul­ture, and cur­rent issues in tour­ism and hospitality.

Featured image (top of post)

The col­our­ful Calab­ar Car­ni­val, ‘Africa’s Biggest Street Party’, is where tra­di­tion and mod­ern­ity can mingle and is part of Nigeri­a’s Detty Decem­ber, a dia­spora tour­ism draw. Pic by Teemages, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wiki­me­dia Com­mons.

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