Abstract
Tourism as an activity of movement and discovery of new places, peoples and its affiliates has
always been with man. This inherent multifaceted activity generates enormous income among nations
and contributes to national GDP more than certain sectors of a nation’s economy when it is properly
harnessed, deliberately planned, positioned and repositioned over time. Most times, the key to the
success of tourism amongst other sectors has been human resource management. The outcome of
human resources if untapped, mismanaged and underutilized is counterproductive to growth and
development in all ramifications. This paper, therefore, relies on content analyses of secondary
documents to discuss the impact of human resources management on the development of the tourism
and hospitality industry in Nigeria. The study finds that human resource management is essential for
the successful development of any sector of the nation’s economy and recommends amongst other
things the professionalization and training of personnel in the tourism industry. This will enhance the
growth of the industry and attract international and local tourists to Nigeria; help in job creation,
increase foreign exchange earnings and contributes to the socio-economic development of the nation.