Awakening of the 'Sleeping' Gambia Tourism Industry

Source: Abuko Nature Reserve

Since gaining independence from Britain in 1965, the tiny peaceful West African Nation have been heavily reliant on tourism. The industry continued to be a major source of livelihood for many families in the country and have provided much needed foreign currency to boost government's revenue. It has also been a major player in providing employment opportunities for the local populace albeit being mainly operational seasonally.

However, the industry has been sleep-walking over the last couple of years, struggling to attract significant number of visitors and failing to attract major investment. The number of visitors to the Gambia dwindle drastically over the years and the length of the tourist season is shortened as the years goes by. The outbreak of the Ebola disease in neighbouring countries last year dealt a significant blow to the industry even though no single case was recorded in The Gambia. But as bad as the Ebola outbreak was, the damage has already been done before. The biggest blow to the industry was the global economic crisis of 1998 which affected major economic power houses thereby impacting on developing economies.

Source: Gambia Bird Watching Association

Consequently, people in the developed world struggled to make ends meet let alone having disposable income to pay for holidays. The very few who can afford holidays abroad had to budget very carefully and chose much closer destination to their home countries in order to save on their travels. Take the case of British tourists for example. Even though The Gambia is situated just about 6 hours away from major UK airports, the country's tourism industry found herself in stiff competition with major destinations like Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece etc. to attract British tourists.

Mandina Lodges - Makasutu Cultural Forest

As travel agents were forced to slash their prices by the recession coupled with the fact that all the aforementioned countries offered what The Gambia could offer (sand, sea & sun), and in much closer proximity, most British and other European tourists understandably ended up choosing those destinations much closer to home rather than The Gambia or other Sub-Saharan countries for that matter. This trend in the tourism industry has been going on for the best part of the last decade which had to force struggling destinations like The Gambia to stay in hibernation for so long.

The Vibrant Serrekunda Market

In order for the Gambia Tourism Industry to wake up from its slumbers and walk at a fast pace rather than the sleep-walking pace it has been known for over the years, much drastic diversification methods needs to be undertaken among other reforms.

Firstly, a community based tourism should be promoted in all corners of the country encouraging local people to fully participate and benefit from tourism related activities in their respective communities.

Secondly, a strategic destination marketing plan needs to be implemented which should recommend how to diversify from the much maligned 'sand, sea & sun' destination tag to a broader and much appealing tourists attractions across the length and breadth of the country.

And thirdly, regional tourism needs be intensively promoted across the globe. There needs to be a massive diversification in the industry's target market campaign. Targeting Regional (Africa), Far East (Asia) and Middle Eastern countries rather than the traditional European and American markets could be the key to unlocking the Industry's potential opportunities.