The Tourism Industry Struggling in the Aftermath of Recent Terror Attacks

From the Safaris of East Africa to the Resorts of North Africa, the tourism industry has been floundered by the waves of recent terror attacks. Deadly attacks in Nigeria, Kenya, Tunisia, Egypt and Mali has had great adverse effects to the industry from African perspective. And away from the continent, the recent Paris attacks which consequently forced Brussels into a lockdown for almost a week, also left the industry crumbling to its knees in that part of the world .

According to traveller24, an estimated 29 terror attacks have taken place across the world since June 2015, not to mention the number of foiled plots over the period. Naturally, whenever an attack takes place anywhere or even if a potential attack is suspected to happen, responsible governments advice their respective citizens against travelling to such places. This of course usually results in massive cancellations of hotels and flights bookings thereby significantly faltering the growth of the tourism industry in the affected or targeted destinations.

Sunset at Tanje Fishing Village, Gambia. source: gambiamonitor

According to the telegraph, Kenya's visitor numbers have fallen down by 25% over the last two years as a direct result of terrorism. And according to the BBC, the Egyptian tourism ministry has reported that, the industry stands to lose 2.2bn Egyptian pounds ($280m) a month after the cancellation of flights from Russia and Britain as a consequent of the Sinai Plane crash. Meanwhile, Tunisia has seen a drop in visitor numbers of about 20% and several hotels are forced to close down according to the telegraph.

Consequently, Airlines and Tour operators are forced to cancel a lot of bookings and equally issue a lot of refunds to customers. And in some cases, they are even forced to offer some sort of compensations. The loss of revenue propel some travel companies to increase the price of their tour packages to unaffected destinations which will ultimately discourage tourists from travelling.

It is alleged that Thomas Cook Airlines have double their package tours to destination Gambia recently which prompted an on-going petition against them. It is safe to say that such practice by a big company like Thomas Cook is unethical to say the least. We all know that every business is out there to make profit and balance their books, but we also know that every responsible company must be prepared for stormy days.

Thomas Cook should therefore understand that such a practice only brings about a lose-lose situation. Instead of boosting profit, it will instigate loss of revenue because ordinary people will not buy such excessive packages. Moreover, it will damage the company's reputation and negatively impact customer loyalty. And worst of all, the destination concern which desperately hopes to receive more visitors, will only see a decrease in visitor numbers.

Dissociating Terrorism From Islam: A Look at the Rise in Recent Terror Attacks.

Another day, another terror attack. This time at a Radisson Blu Hotel popular with Westerners in the Malian capital Bamako where a security conference was apparently taking place at the time. This follows a series of deadly attacks by the militant group 'Boko Haram' in northern Nigeria just a couple of days ago. And of course not forgetting the deadly attacks in Paris a week ago, and the downing of the Russian Airliner in Egypt last month.

All these attacks are claimed to be perpetrated by so-called Islamic militants who are nothing but a bunch of barbaric lunatics who have nothing, what so ever! to do with such a peaceful and noble religion. The name 'Islam' according to scholars is derived from the Arabic word 'Salam' which literally means peace. Therefore a devout and true Muslim is expected to be peaceful and shall hold no hatred or grudges against anyone. As a born Muslim, one of the first things I was taught as a child is killing of a fellow human being is forbidden in Islam and so is committing suicide. So if this people are blowing themselves up and killing innocent people in the name of Islam, certainly NOT IN MY NAME and not in the name of the Islam I practice.

Gunmen attacked a Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, Mali. Source: dailymail

A lot of sentimental expressions has been voiced in the wake of the of Paris attacks.  There is increasing resentment towards Muslim communities in most Western countries which is very unfortunate indeed. Good Muslims are God-fearing and peace-loving people who have nothing to do with such madness. Of course, people have the right to voice their opinions and concerns if their ways of life are threaten but trying to categorise all 1.6 billion people - over 23% of the world population as terrorists is a grave misconception, and will only create an environment where hostility will continue to thrive.

Thankfully, there is a high number of like-minded people out there who understand the true nature of Islam and will never associate it with terrorism. TERRORISM has no religion! How can anyone justify randomly spraying bullets on innocent people for simply relaxing on a beach, dining in a restaurant or watching a music concert? And how can anyone justify blowing up an aeroplane in the skies, or killing innocent people in a hotel or shopping mall? People going on about their daily activities only to have their lives senselessly ended. This is BARBARIC as much as it is COWARDLY! And this perpetrators hiding in the name of Islam (not my Islam) committing such atrocities must be STOPPED in any means necessary.

Suicide bomb attack at a Mosque in Yola city, Nigeria. Source:  channelstv

It's no hidden fact that some Western countries are part and parcel of all this problem. America and her Western allies invaded Iraq in 2003 for apparently having a nuclear missile which was later found to be untrue, and which resulted in the subsequent execution of Saddam Hussein in 2006. Through NATO, they again invaded Libya which resulted in the killing of Muammar Ghaddaffi in 2011 for no apparent reason. If this two men were still alive, am not sure we will see such a mess in the Middle East today.

The said period coincided with the so-called Arab spring which marks the beginning of the Syrian conflict. And ever since, the so-called Western powers have been watching Bashar Al-Assad butcher and maim his people while doing nothing rather than issuing mere political rhetoric. Or did they finally realised that ousting Saddam and Ghaddafi are the two fundamental reasons why we are all in this mess today? Or is it because Russia and Iran backs the Assad's regime? We shall see how their new G20 agreement to end the conflict pans out.

That being said, the problem today is not only a Western one, rather a problem for the whole world. To say that the situation is complex is an understatement, and world leaders are certainly overwhelmed. They are wary that air strikes alone won't achieve much desired results and there is no way they can enter into dialogue with such perpetrators. Therefore the fight should involve everyone - Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhist, Atheist or whatever your believe is. We should all stand and denounce terrorism in the strongest of terms and of course completely dissociate it from Islam.

Valletta Summit on Migration: Is it right for the EC to set up a 'Trust Fund' for Africa?

African and European political leaders met at the Maltese capital Valletta from 11 to 12 November, 2015 to discuss the growing issues of migration between the two continents. As a result, the European Commission has set up an 'Emergency Trust Fund' of €1.8 billion for Africa and has urged member countries to follow suit. So will the so-called trust fund be the answer to the migration crisis or will it be a state of 'too little, too late'?

According to the UNHCR, about 820,000 refugees/migrants have arrived in Europe by sea so far in 2015, while about 3,500 have died trying to make the perilous journey. 85% of arrivals come from the world's top 10 refugee-producing countries with Syria producing a staggering 52%, followed by Afghanistan at 19%, Iraq 6% and Eritrea 5%. Nigeria, Pakistan and Somalia follows with 2% each while Sudan, Gambia and Mali complete the top 10 with 1% each. 

Given that 6 out the top 10 refugee-producing countries are in Africa, it make some sense for the EC to set up the 'Trust Fund'. But with these 6 countries producing a combined total of only 12%, far less than what Afghanistan alone produces, setting up such a fund becomes rather questionable. And how the fund is going to work in the long term also raises some eye-brows.

Family Photo, Source: European Commission

So to fully understand what the fund entails and how is it going to be operational, we reproduce the following report from the European Commission:

The European Commission has launched an “Emergency Trust Fund for stability and addressing root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa”, made up of €1.8 billion from the EU budget and European Development Fund, combined with contributions from EU Member States and other donors

WHAT IS A TRUST FUND? A Trust Fund is an innovative mechanism under the EU’s Financial Regulation used in the field of development cooperation to pool large resources from different donors to enable a swift, common, complementary and flexible response to the different dimensions of an emergency situation.

WHO BENEFITS FROM THE TRUST FUND? The Trust Fund will benefit a wide range of countries across Africa that encompass the major African migration routes to Europe. These countries are among the most fragile and those most affected by migration. They will draw the greatest benefit from EU financial assistance. The countries and regions are:

•  The Sahel region and Lake Chad area: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, the Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal. 
• The Horn of Africa: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
• The North of Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.
• Neighbouring countries of the eligible countries may benefit, on a case by case basis, from Trust Fund projects with a regional dimension in order to address regional migration flows and related cross- border challenges. 

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE TRUST FUND? The Trust Fund aims to help foster stability in the regions and to contribute to better migration management. More specifically, it aims to address the root causes of destabilisation, forced displacement and irregular migration, by promoting economic and equal opportunities, security and development. 

WHAT TYPES OF PROJECTS CAN BE FINANCED BY THE TRUST FUND? 

• Establishing economic programmes that create employment opportunities, especially for young people and women, with a focus on vocational training and the creation of micro and small enterprises. Actions could contribute in particular to supporting the reintegration of returnees into their communities. 
• Projects supporting basic services for local populations such as food and nutrition security, health, education and social protection, as well as environmental sustainability. 
• Projects improving migration management, including containing and preventing irregular migration, effective return and readmission, international protection and asylum, legal migration and mobility, and enhancing synergies between migration and development. 
• Supporting improvements in overall governance, in particular by promoting conflict prevention and enforcing the rule of law through capacity building in support of security and development as well as law enforcement, including border management and migration-related aspects. Actions could also contribute to preventing and countering radicalisation and extremism. 

Preliminary remarks by Macky SALL, President of Senegal and President of ECOWAS, Source: EU tvnewsroom

The sitting president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), President Macky Sall of Senegal in his preliminary remarks expressed his pleasure with the outcome of the summit and the setting up of the Trust Fund. He however believe that the compromised reached can be improve but above all must be implemented, and would of course like to see the fund more generously financed.

This summit in the spirit of responsibility, balance and pulling of our efforts has adopted a political declaration that is strong and will be followed by an action plan expressing our vision, he remarked. He went on to lament that Africa and Europe are two neighbouring countries linked by history, geography, human factors and by corporation. Against this back drop, we must consider the question of migration and what is important in this exercise is dialogue and direct exchange on a very controversial and complex subject

When answering question from journalist during the Q&A session, Mr. Sall was eloquent in stressing that, unfair pay to African natural resources, exploitation and tax avoidance by Multi National Corporations renders Africa to be continuously dependent on aid. He also cited that poverty, war, instability and insecurity are the root causes of migration. He said where there is war, people will flee to where there is safety, and where there there is under-development, people will move to where there is development, that's simply human nature as he puts it. I must admit I totally agree with Mr. Sallah on that one.

He also acknowledge the fact that corruption and bad governance are the major hindrance to African development but disappointingly, there was no mentioning of how to tackle this troublesome African menace by the ECOWAS president. Africa has enough resources to sustain itself, no question about that but with the 'genetic' greed of our leaders, we will continue to depend on aid. My conclusion is that; this 'Emergency Trust Fund' will also be another flop and won't make any difference in tackling issues of migration. Perhaps I am being overly pessimistic.

2015/16 Tourist Season: A case for optimism or a cause for concern

As tourists began to visit destination Gambia for the 2015/16 season after a dreadful and dismal 2014/15 season, we analyse if this long waited season will be of any difference to seasons before or will it be the same old story. As we are all aware, last year's Ebola crisis which in essence didn't affect the country, but the severity of the outbreak in other countries in the region had a damaging consequence to the tourism industry in the entire region.

Thomas Cook, one of the long standing major operators in the Gambia were the first company to fly tourists to the country for this season. And as it is becoming almost a tradition for maiden flights in every tourist season, they were received by executives from across the tourism sector accompanied by a highly animated crowd of cultural troops to showcase the Gambian hospitality and welcoming spirit.

The first Thomas Cook Scandinavian Flight for the 2015/16 Season, Source: Dailyobserver

Understandably, there was a certain degree of enthusiasm among the welcoming crowd, and the tourists especially the first-timers were certainly overwhelmed. It all looked promising for a start, buoyed by the fact that Thomas Cook Scandinavia promised to freight over 200 tourists on a weekly basis till the beginning of March. If other operators follow suit, this would definitely be a very successful season on paper at least.

But the question still lingers, why can't the industry be all-year round or at least stay open till end of June? Given the fact that, the reason why we have the off-season is usually attributed to the rainy season which normally doesn't start until July, I see no reason why the Industry can't be extended to operate for at least eight months rather than six months. It's all down to strategic marketing at the end of the day.

Gambia tourists arrival by seasonality, Source: Dailyobserver

Season after season, we have been yearning and hoping for better visitor numbers and an extended operational season. At the beginning of every season, there's always been the same rhetoric that "this will be a better season" but unfortunately, there's never been a significant progress. And the above figures shows that we are nowhere near we ought to be. As a destination, we obviously got the potential to do much better than receiving under 200,000 visitors per year. Something is fundamentally wrong somewhere!

Like I mentioned in one of my previous posts, tourism executives needs to implement a strategic destination marketing plan that would diversify our target market and deviate us from the much maligned 'sand, sea & sun' destination tag to a much broader and more appealing tourists attractions/activities across the length and breadth of the country. 

Number of tourists arrivals in The Gambia - 1996/2012, Sources: tradingeconomics

Number of tourists arrivals in Cape Verde - 1996/2012, Sources: tradingeconomics

Moreover, if we want to be among the best, we ought to benchmark ourselves with the best destinations in the business. Small destinations like Cape Verde are doing really well in terms of attracting all-year round visitors. According to the charts above, in the year 2012 alone, the small island has attracted over half a million visitors where as destination Gambia was languishing at around 180,000. Considering the fact that tourism in Cape Verde only really started around the 1970s, and we have been around since 1965, we should look at what those guys are doing right to correct it with what we are doing wrong.