Destination Gambia: Potentially More Than Just Sand, Sea & Sun

Source: GTA

The Gambia Tourism Authority (GTA) understood fully well that they can’t rest on their laurels if they are to have any chance of succeeding in this industry’s stiff competition. They therefore had to come up with the brilliant idea of re-branding their logo with the addition of a catchy slogan ‘Go. Discover’. But is that simply enough? The answer is an emphatic NO.

In order to stand a chance in this competitive industry, the  GTA should try to deviate it’s marketing strategy away from the saturated ‘sand sea and sun’ tag that is being used by so many bigger and much popular destinations. Gambia has much more to offer than just sand, sea and sun, and smiling faces.

In today's globalised and competitive business world, tourism destinations have to undertake some aggressive marketing techniques to win the hearts and minds of travellers. Gambia as a tourist destination has pride herself as the ‘smiling coast of Africa’ due the hospitality and warmness of her people.

Destination marketing has become an integral part in the global success of the tourism industry. Successful marketing campaign is of paramount importance to attracting and retaining visitors to a particular destination.

Fishing and Birdwatching have provided some alternative activities for visitors to the Gambia over the years. This country, small as it may seem is host to over 540 species of birds nestled in very beautiful habitats all over the country. Sea and River fishing is operational all year round making the country a haven for fishing enthusiast who most often than not will be in for a big and beautiful catch, complemented with a chance to spot some dolphins along the way.

Dolphins sighting on a Fishing Trip. Source: Access Gambia

The beautiful River Gambia where the country derived her name from rises from the Fouta Djallon Highlands in Northern Guinea flowing through Senegal, dissecting The Gambia, to the Atlantic Ocean in Banjul.

According to Access Gambia, The River which snakes through the country is quite literally "The Gambia". The country exist as a mall strip of land on either side of the river. It is often said that "The River Gambia is The Gambia and the Gambia is the River Gambia" It is a major tourist attraction and the dominant feature is how it beautifully snakes/zig-zags through the heart of the country.

Mangroves at Nuimi National Park. Source: Acces Gambia

The future for Gambia Tourism however lies on ecotourism. There are lots of beautiful spots all over the country waiting to be discovered and developed. Therefore as already mentioned, the GTA should focus on diversifying the various potential tourism products the country has to offer. It will be of paramount importance to deviate from the ‘sand, sea & sun’ product to a much more variable and appealing ‘things to do and see’ for the industry.

Finance for Development Conference: Dare we be hopeful!

World leaders, government ministers, NGOs and financial experts converged in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa from 13th to 16th July 2015 for the third Finance For Development (FFD) Conference under the theme “Time For Global Action”.

In a joint statement, the leaders affirmed their strong political commitment towards addressing the challenge of financing and creating an enabling environment at all levels for sustainable development in the spirit of global partnership and solidarity.

Source: FFD 

They pledge that their goal is to end poverty and hunger, and to achieve sustainable development in its three dimensions through promoting inclusive economic growth, protecting the environment, and promoting social inclusion. Furthermore, they proclaim:

We commit to respecting all human rights, including the right to development. We will ensure gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment. We will promote peaceful and inclusive societies and advance fully towards an equitable global economic system in which no country or person is left behind, enabling decent work and productive livelihoods for all, while preserving the planet for our children and future generations.

Based on the above statements and pledges, we ask if we really dare to be hopeful especially with pledge to end poverty and hunger. We wonder how long will it take for that to become reality in a world where 795 million or 1 in 9 people do not have enough to eat, and a staggering 1.4 billion people live on about or under $1 a day.

According to The Hunger Project, 98% of the world’s undernourished people live in  developing countries, 214 million of which are from Sub-Saharan Africa. Tragically, the project also estimates that about 22,000 children die each day due to conditions of poverty and every 10 seconds, a child dies from hunger-related diseases.

Yet, according to the BBC, the technology giant Apple have just reported the biggest quarterly profit in history, and are now sitting on a pile of cash huge enough to give every person in the world £20 each with enough remaining to buy the 3 biggest Supermarket chains in the UK (Tesco, Sainsbury's & Morrison).

TRY Oyster Women Association, Gambia. Source: UNDP

The world population continues to grow especially in developing countries. A report by the  African Economic Outlook presents that the continent's population is set to triple by 2050 with both cities and rural communities seeing their population grow drastically. The report also argues that this population growth, combined with climate change, will exert increasing pressure on natural resources, such as food, water and land whereas poverty will remain stubbornly high.  

As a consequent, the fanciful idea of totally eradicating world poverty and hunger is nothing but a fantasy at least for our generation. And by their own admission, the FFD recognises the enormous hurdles that needs to be conquered. They highlighted that;

Inequalities within many countries have increased dramatically. Women, representing half of the world’s population, as well as indigenous peoples and the vulnerable, continue to be excluded from participating fully in the economy.  There are often shocks from financial and economic crises, and environmental degradation and climate change remain a biggest threat. Also conflicts, natural disasters and disease outbreaks spread rapidly in our highly interconnected world.

The challenges posed by these hurdles will not at all be easy to overcome. It requires a great deal of effort and need to be tackle at the grass root level. Development aid is certainly not the answer. It only makes poor people to become ever so reliant on such aids. In order to eradicate poverty, the culture of self-reliant must be inculcated on poor people’s mind. They need to be sensitised, trained and offered the necessary support to become self sufficient. As the saying goes, ‘show me how to catch a fish rather than giving me a fish everyday’.

Tourism Vs Terrorism: Remaining defiant and upbeat

In the aftermath of the Tunisian Beach massacre where 38 innocent souls have been senselessly ended, I silently contemplated whether we are safe to travel anywhere at all, or whether we are even safe at any place we might consider home. 

Tunisia is not the first tourism destination to be attacked and sadly it doesn't seem to be the last. Terrorism has undoubtedly caused some major setbacks to a host of tourism destinations over the years notably in Egypt and Indonesia.

The scene at the Imperial Mahaba Hotel in Sousse, Tunisa. Source: The Mirror

According to the BBC News Magazine, the Egyptian archaeological site of Luxor was attacked in 1997 leaving 62 people, mostly tourists dead. Similarly, the country’s resort of Sharm el-Shiekh was attacked in 2005 which left 88 people dead. Perhaps the most deadly of terrorist attack was in the Indonesian Island of Bali in 2002 where 202 people were reported killed and 209 injured.

My fear was compounded when the British Foreign Office urged Britons to leave Tunisia and advised against all non-essential travel to the country. This was of course to be followed by other Western countries which dealt a massive blow to the Tunisian Tourism Industry.

Luxor Archaeological site, Egypt. Source: BBC News Magazine

The good news is though; despite the short term handicap caused by these senseless attacks, affected destinations remain defiant and upbeat. Considering the 9/11 and the 7/7 attacks in New York and London respectively, these two major tourism destinations continue to record surge in visitor numbers. So did Indonesia and Egypt albeit not at the same level. Therefore, there is no doubt that Tunisia will also recover from this tragedy.

There are always lessons to be learned from incidents like this. However, we must always remain steadfast in our approach to stepping up security measures to counter such attacks. The BBC News Magazine reported that;

"Colombia's boom in tourism in recent decades has coincided with increased security and a regular army presence on major highways and tourist hubs, such as the Caribbean city of Cartagena, even though the country's war with leftist guerrillas continues. Similarly Mexico's tourist zones have been largely unaffected by the violence that has rendered other parts of the country ungovernable".

Source: BBC News Magazine

Hearing the Tunisian foreign minister criticised his country’s security forces for a slow response to the Sousse attack makes me ponder that they could learn from The Gambia Security Services lead in establishing a small military camp in the heart of the Tourism Development Area (TDA).

At its maiden stage, I had some scepticism about such a project as it was initially set up to tackle local youths (known as ‘bumsters’) unwelcome harassment to visitors, and illegal activities on beach resorts. I thought military presence on beach resorts might scare away visitors rather than protect them. I was of the view that beach security should entirely be left in the hands of hotel security officials and to some extent, the police. But how wrong I was to be proven yet again!

Today, as tourism destinations remain ever under threat from terrorist groups globally, I am proud to write that, other destinations could learn something from the Gambia Tourism/Security initiative in order to be able to swiftly deal with any imminent attack. From West, East, North and South, we stand together and remain defiant!

Millennium Development Goals: Focus on The Gambia

September 2000, to commemorate the beginning of the new millennium, the UN rallied countries around the world towards a common 15-year agenda known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with the following eight time-bound targets to improve the lives of the world’s poorest people:

Source: UNDP

As the year 2015 marks the deadline for the above target goals, the UNDP declared; "To date, the Millennium Development Goals have made a profound difference in peoples lives" by highlighting the following achievements:

• Global poverty has been halved five years ahead of the 2015 time frame.
• Ninety percent of children in developing regions now enjoy primary education, and disparities between boys and girls in enrolment have narrowed.
• Remarkable gains have also been made in the fight against malaria and tuberculosis, along with improvements in all health indicators.
• The likelihood of a child dying before the age of five has been nearly cut in half over the last two decades. That means that about 17,000 children are saved everyday.
• The target of halving the proportion of people who lack access to improve sources of water was also met.

The last point (highlighted in bold above) is a very curious claim indeed as it doesn't mention any significant figure or data. This is why we want to explore that area in relation to The Gambia's MDGs achievement thus far.

With a total area of 11, 295 sq km and a population of about 1.7 million, The Gambia is undoubtedly one of the smallest countries in Africa. Situated on the West of the continent, it is almost entirely encircled by the Republic of Senegal except for the Atlantic Ocean on the West.

According to the African Economic Outlook, The Gambia is one of the most densely populated countries with 173.6 persons per sq km, which exerts extreme pressure on the country's limited productive land and prevent social service from being adequately provided.

The 2014 MDGs Status Report shows that The country have made significant progress in meeting some of the eight time-bound target goals but it remain to be seen whether all the targets will be met and to what extend by September 2015. According to the latest Integrated Household Survey (IHS), the number people living under one dollar a day has been significantly reduced by almost 10% between 2003/4 and 2010, from 58% down to 48.1% precisely. This achievement propels the government to make an ambitious target for a further 10.4% reduction in poverty by 2015.

There is also evidence of progress in achieving universal primary education and the promotion of gender equality and women empowerment. However it should be noted that despite the progress gained in poverty reduction, the gap between the rich and the poor still remains an issue. And access to improved sources of water as claimed by the UNDP above is hardly being experience by most part of rural Gambia.

Main Source of Water in a Village in Rural Gambia, West Africa. Source: Facebook

Dug wells are the major source of water in almost every village and some of these wells eventually end up drying out due to immense pressure. It is however worth mentioning that, some communities have had benefited from certain NGO projects for the erection of hand pump taps and/or boreholes, but this often doesn't last long due to long term technical and maintenance issues. Women, as the backbone of most rural families, therefore have to bear the burden of fetching water added to their already saturated households chores in very difficult conditions such as the picture above.

Another one of the 8 MDG targets that is on the loose  in The Gambia is environmental sustainability. The country is heavily reliant on rain-fed subsistence agriculture which renders it totally vulnerable to climate change. The African Economic Outlook reported that, "the high level of reliance on the forest as a source of energy together with continued encroachment of protected areas by human settlements have resulted in a significant reduction of the forest cover". It is estimated that the proportion of land areas covered by forest was 48% in 2010, but the 50% MDG target by 2015 is far from being achieved.

Of course, no one government can steer a country's development on its own. It always requires a lot of support and input from partners and stakeholders alike. The onus is therefore on the Gambia government to focus on Goal No. 8 of the MDGs (forging partnership for development). More bilateral cooperation should be fostered and development projects should be stretch as far the remotest part of the country in order to promote equality and all-inclusion.