AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

DEPARTMENT OF STATE FOR TOURISM AND CULTURE,

REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA

The Gambia Tourism Development Master Plan

FINAL REPORT
MAIN VOLUME
JULY 2006
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................1
1.1 Purposes of this Report .....................................................................1
1.2 Approach of the Consultants .............................................................1
1.3 Tourism Development Plan Reports ..................................................2
1.4 Report Contents ................................................................................2
2. WHY TOURISM IS IMPORTANT TO THE GAMBIA ................................3
2.1 General Introduction to The Gambia..................................................3
2.2 The growth of tourism in The Gambia................................................4
2.3 The potential benefits from the development of tourism ....................8
2.4 The importance of tourism to The Gambia ......................................10
3. THE CHALLENGES FACING TOURISM IN THE GAMBIA ....................12
3.1 Introduction......................................................................................12
3.2 Choices for The Gambia..................................................................14
3.3 Options Considered .........................................................................15
3.4 Consensus View ..............................................................................17
4. the vision for the development of tourism ...............................................18
4.1 The Vision........................................................................................18
4.2 How the Vision is to be reached ......................................................18
4.3 Strategic Objectives.........................................................................19
5. SHORT TO MEDIUM TERM MARKET STRATEGY AND AIR ACCESS23
5.1 Introduction......................................................................................23
5.2 Short-term Market Strategy .............................................................23
5.3 Air Access........................................................................................25
5.4 Business Development - Scheduled Routes....................................26
5.5 Business Development - Tour Operator/Charter Operators.............27
5.6 Domestic Operations .......................................................................27
5.7 Banjul International Airport ..............................................................27
5.8 Gambia International Airlines...........................................................28
6. SHORT to medium TERM DESTINATION MARKETING STRATEGY ...29
6.1 Findings from the Tour Operator Survey .........................................29
6.2 Short-term Marketing Objectives .....................................................31
6.3 Broadening the market ....................................................................32
6.4 The product portfolio........................................................................35
6.5 Destination Marketing ......................................................................36
7. SHORT TO MEDIUM TERM PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 42
7.1 Background on the Gambian Tourism Product................................42
7.2 Strategic Focus................................................................................45
7.3 Redevelopment of Main Resort Area...............................................46
7.4 Development of New Resort Areas .................................................48
7.5 Bird-watching and Fishing ...............................................................48
7.6 Excursions and entertainment .........................................................48
7.7 Management of Product Development ............................................49
7.8 Cultural Tourism Development ........................................................53
7.9 Tourism and the National Parks ......................................................54
7.10 The River and Tourism ....................................................................58
7.11 All-inclusive Packages .....................................................................58
7.12 Access to Finance and the need for incentives ...............................59
8. OTHER SHORT TERM IMPLEMENTATION MEASURES.....................61

2
 8.1 Introduction......................................................................................61
8.2 Infrastructure ...................................................................................61
8.3 Environment ....................................................................................63
8.4 Social Aspects .................................................................................65
8.5 Agricultural Linkages .......................................................................68
8.6 Human Resources ...........................................................................71
9. THE LONGER TERM PROGRAMME ....................................................73
9.1 The Longer Term .............................................................................73
9.2 Tourism Development Framework (TDAs and Tourism Sites).........73
9.3 Anchoring and Linking TDAs and Tourism Sites .............................76
9.4 Integrating TDAs, Tourism Sites, Links and Themes.......................77
9.5 Carrying Capacity ............................................................................78
10. DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH TO 2025 .................79
10.1 General............................................................................................79
10.2 West Coast TDA ..............................................................................79
10.3 Brikama TDA ...................................................................................87
10.4 Western River TDA..........................................................................88
10.5 Juffureh TDA ...................................................................................90
10.6 Banjul TDA ......................................................................................90
10.7 North Coast TDA .............................................................................90
10.8 Kiang West TDA ..............................................................................91
10.9 Baobolong Wetland TDA .................................................................91
10.10 Central River TDA ........................................................................91
10.11 Upper River TDA..........................................................................92
11. TEN YEAR ACTION PLAN .................................................................93
11.1 Introduction......................................................................................93
11.2 Measures and Targets of the Action Plan........................................93
11.3 Institutional Development ................................................................94
11.4 Plan implementation process...........................................................96
11.5 Ten Year Time Frame......................................................................99
11.6 First Rank Projects ..........................................................................99
11.7 Sources of Financial Support......................................................... 100
11.8 Monitoring and Control .................................................................. 108
11.9 Commitment .................................................................................. 109
ANNEXES.................................................................................................... 110
ANNEX 1 – LIST OF TECHNICAL REPORTS ......................................... 111
ANNEX 2 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF ALL-INCLUSIVE TOURISM ..... 112
ANNEX 3 - INSTITUTIONS ...................................................................... 115
ANNEX 4 - INDICATORS FROM OTHER TOURISM DESTINATIONS. 127

3
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

AI All-inclusives
CAGR Cumulative Annual Growth Rate
CSO Central Statistical Office
DOSTC Department of State for Tourism and Culture
DPWM Department of Parks and Wildlife Management
EIA Environmental Impact Assessment
EU European Union
GCAA Gambia Civil Aviation Authority
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GIPFZA The Gambia Investment Promotion and Free Zones Agency
GSA General Sales Agent
GTA Gambia Tourism Authority
Dm Dalasi millions
HIPC Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
LGA Local Government Administration
MICE Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions
NAWEC National Water and Electricity Company
NCAC National Council for Arts and Culture
NEA National Environment Agency
NGO Non-Governmental Organisation
NTO National Tourist Office
NTTI National Tourism Training Institute
PPP Purchasing Power Parity
RevPAR Revenue per available room
SEA Strategic Environment Assessment
SME Small and Medium Enterprises
TA Technical Assistance
TDA Tourism Development Area
TDMP Tourism Development Master Plan
TS Tourism Site
TSA Tourism Satellite Accounts
WTTC World Travel and Tourism Council
UK United Kingdom
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNWTO United Nations World Tourism Organisation

4
1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purposes of this Report

This Report sets out the Tourism Development Master Plan for The
Gambia.

The Tourism Development Master Plan is designed to chart a way

forward for tourism in The Gambia in the short, medium and longer-
term. Work on the Plan commenced in 2004, with a draft master plan
being completed in 2005. Extensive consultations were undertaken
during the preparation process including on the draft plan, and the final
Plan reflects comments made by stakeholders.
The Plan takes 2025 as the period for the long-term vision for tourism
development.
This report has the twin purposes of:
(1) indicating the long-term development vision, which incorporates
development throughout the whole of The Gambia, so spreading
the benefits of tourism throughout the country; and
(2) indicating solutions to the short and medium term issues that are
facing the industry in a ten year action plan. These issues will have
to be addressed otherwise the long-term vision will be lost.
The overall Plan builds on previous work undertaken. Among these
are the National Policy for Tourism Development 1995-2000 and follow
up studies on new tourism areas and new markets prepared for the
Department of State for Tourism and Culture under the Netherlands
Management Cooperation Programme in 1998. Targets in terms of
visitor arrivals contained in these reports have not been met, nor has
the target contribution of tourism to GDP, an indication of the
challenges for The Gambia.
1.2 Approach of the Consultants

The findings have been reached with the assistance of a Study

Coordinator and the Tourism Support Group. The work has involved:

• continual participation in the study on the part of stakeholders

(private sector and public sector) through workshops in April and
December, 2004, and January, 2005 and August 2005; and
• A multi-disciplinary team, looking at different aspects in order to try
to reach a holistic approach to planning future tourism development.
The tourism product is highly complex, requiring a very large
number of different inputs to be brought together in a coordinated
fashion, working in harmony with each other and remaining
financially and economically viable.

1
1.3 Tourism Development Plan Reports

The Tourism Development Plan comprises this main report, together

with:
• a separate Summary Report
• 16 Technical Reports, presented in two volumes.

The Technical Reports are as follows:

Technical Reports, Volume 1 Technical Reports, Volume 2

1: The Economic Impact of Tourism
2: Air Access
3: Visitor Survey (at the airport)
4: Visitor Survey (at hotels)
5: Marketing and Promotion
6: Product Development
7: Physical Tourism Planning
8: River Cruise Product
9: Agricultural Linkages
10: Human Resource Development
11: Tourism Related Social Factors
12: Cultural Tourism
13: Environmental Issues
14: Parks Management
15: Tourism Related Infrastructure
16: Tourism Legislation

Further details are given in Appendix 1.

1.4 Report Contents

First of all this Report indicates why tourism is important to The

Gambia. The Report then highlights the challenges facing The Gambia.
The overall Vision for the development of tourism is then presented.
Following this is the short to medium term strategy and the longer term
development strategy. Finally, the actions needed are set out in the
context of a Ten Year Action Plan.

2
 2. WHY TOURISM IS IMPORTANT TO THE GAMBIA

2.1 General Introduction to The Gambia

The Gambia is one of the smallest countries in West Africa with a total
land area of 10,689 square kilometers (km). It stretches 350 km inland
from the West to East on either side of The Gambia River. The River
Gambia, which runs the entire length of the country from the Futa
Jallon Highlands in the Republic of Guinea to the Atlantic Ocean,
divides the country into two halves the North and the South Banks.
The River is one of the longest in the world allowing direct navigation
inland from the open ocean.
Figure 2.1: The Gambia

SENEGAL

Kaur Kass Wollof

CENTRAL
RIVER
Sukuta
Farafenni
Essau Georgetown UPPER RIVER
Bakau Kerewan Salikene
Manya
Sara Job Kunda Barra
Banjul NORTH Konko Bansang Diabugu
BANK LOWER RIVER Basse Santa Su

Brikama
WESTERN Kalagi
Gunjur
SENEGAL

This map is intended exclusively for the use of the readers of the report to which it is attached. The names used and
the borders shown do not imply any judgement concerning the legal status of a territory nor any approval or
acceptance of these borders. This applies to all Maps used in this report. The maps are not to scale.

The population is 1.4 million and the population growth rate is 2.8% per
annum resulting in one of the highest population densities in Africa at
128 persons per square kilometre (Provisional Census 2003 Results).
Overall per capita income is approximately US$320 per year. The
Gambia is classified as one of the highly indebted poor countries
(HIPC).
As can be seen, land is a scarce resource that needs to be used with
great care. Planning all physical development needs to take this
scarcity into account. Making sites available for tourism development is
one of the main incentives that the Government has in bringing about
tourism and clearly this has to be used both with great care and to
great effect, which currently is not the case. Many land sites in the
Tourism Development Area (TDA) are substantially misused as an
economic resource.

3
 Debt is a substantial issue, with the national debt being about one and
a half times the annual Gross Domestic Product. The level of national
debt has to be taken into account in looking at options for the
Government supporting tourism development particularly through the
provision of infrastructure. Inevitably the Government is constrained in
what it can achieve.
Agriculture is the main economic activity and this sector accounts for
the largest proportion of economically active persons with more than
half of the population engaged in subsistence farming, livestock rearing
and groundnut cultivation. Groundnut is the main cash crop but efforts
to diversify have brought in sesame growing, which is predominantly
grown by women. Rice is the staple food but the country has not yet
reached self-sufficiency in rice production thus leading to the importing
of rice. In addition to agriculture, tourism and commerce are important
sources of foreign exchange as well as of employment.
The Gambian climate is typically Sahelian with a long dry season from
November to May and a short rainy season between June and
October. Distribution of rainfall tends to be irregular and the country
has experienced recurrent droughts. The estuary basin of The River
Gambia is virtually a tidal inlet with salt-water intrusion ranging from
180-250 km. in the rainy season and dry seasons respectively. Irrigable
lands are therefore limited and agriculture, which is the backbone of the
Gambian economy, is mostly rain-fed. As a result agricultural activity is
subject to wide seasonal fluctuations and production levels are
vulnerable to variations in rainfall.
Islam is the predominant religion with 95% of the population being
Muslim. Christians account for the remainder and a few people practice
traditional religions. One common strand among ethnic groups is the
patriarchy where male dominance is common.
The social fabric of The Gambia is based on family networks often
stretching into neighbouring countries where the extended family takes
responsibility for the well-being and maintenance of the family. Family
networks provide support systems to limit poverty, which is on the
increase. Poverty is more of a rural than an urban phenomenon.
However, families are finding it hard to maintain this system, which to
date has largely hindered local entrepreneurship by limiting savings
and investments.
2.2 The growth of tourism in The Gambia

The founding of tourism in The Gambia is attributed to a Swedish tour

operator (Mr. Bertil Harding) who ‘discovered’ the beautiful sandy
beaches and pleasant climate in this unspoiled tropical destination. It
was a good sun-sea-sand destination less than seven hours flying time
from Scandinavia. With a fortnightly charter flight from Sweden, he
started the business in 1965, which was also the year of independence
for The Gambia. For several years, the Scandinavians were the only
tourists in The Gambia, then the British came and tourism grew rapidly.

4
At the start, there were only two unclassified hotels located in the
capital city, Banjul - the Atlantic and Adonis hotels. Later, as business
grew in 1970s and 80s, other hotels were built namely the Fajara,
Wadner Beach, Bungalow Beach and Kotu Strand. Today there is a
proliferation of hotels, guesthouses, motels particularly in the Kanifing
Municipality, which is the main domain of the tourism.
Figure 2.2: The Business, Government and Tourism Core

Realising the limitations of the infrastructure and the need to expand

bed space, tour operators (such as Vingresor who were the first to
establish in The Gambia) not only got involved in tour operations but
also in the building of hotels. For example, the current Sunbeach Hotel
(former Sunwing) was built on a joint venture between the Government
of The Gambia, the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation
and Vingresor. Vingresor also became involved in the training of tourist
guides to provide a service that hitherto had not existed in The Gambia.
The Government supported the whole development of tourism. The
Government received International Development Assistance (IDA) and
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) assistance to build a
road network linking the hotels, the airport and the main urban centers.
More recently the Kombo Coastal road was built with a loan of US$ 8.5
million from the Kuwait Fund and US$ 6 million from BADEA.

5
 Figure 2.3: Trend in Air Charter Arrivals

Air Charter Arrivals

120000

100000

80000

60000

40000

20000

0
Calendar Years, 1967- 2005

Note: Figures for 2005 are provisional

For many years the picture for tourism in The Gambia was one of solid
growth. However, competitive pressures are considerable. The UK
travel advisory in November 1994, following the change of Government
in July 1994, seriously affected the industry when most tour operators
pulled out from The Gambia within 48 hours. The industry almost came
to a standstill. All the allied trades and services were similarly affected
as they depended on the number of arrivals to operate effectively and
in addition they had already made investments, which they were unable
to recoup. Serenity Holidays, which trades as The Gambia Experience,
continued to operate, and effectively gave the industry a ‘lifeline’
through this period.
Business picked up again in 1996 when air charter arrivals reached
96,126. The biggest contributory factor in this increase was the
operation of four flights per week by the German tour operator, Frosch
Touristik International (FTI). When FTI ran into problems in 2000,
tourist arrivals dropped again. In 2001 the FTI operation ceased.
Paralleling this, the leading German tour operators, Thomas Cook and
TUI, pulled out of The Gambia in face of the low pricing adopted by FTI.
The effect was to deprive The Gambia of one of its biggest and most
lucrative markets in Europe thus reducing the number of tourist arrivals.
This has in turn emphasized The Gambia’s dependence on the UK and
Dutch markets (Figure 2.4)
In 2005 (a year for which charter tourist arrivals were provisional at the
time this report was finalised) there appears to have been a substantial
rise in travel during the European summer, including Dutch

6
 holidaymakers attracted by low prices. Despite this tourism remains
highly seasonal as shown in Figure 2.4.
Figure 2.4 Dominance of the UK market

Arrivals by Nationality

60,000

50,000 UK
Benelux
40,000 Germany/Austria
Arrivals

Scandinavia
30,000
Other Europe
20,000 Africa
Americas
10,000 Other
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Year

Source: GTA
Figure 2.5 Seasonality in 2004 and 2005

Arrivals by Month

20,000
18,000
16,000
14,000
12,000
Arrivals

2004
10,000
2005
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Month

Source: GTA

7
 The Gambia as a destination as of 2006 is at a pivotal point, from
where it is possible to see a number of alternative paths. These paths
vary from possible retrenchment in tourist numbers (if nothing is done)
through to modest growth if new strategic initiatives can be put in place.
2.3 The potential benefits from the development of tourism

Tourism is already second only to agriculture in its place in the

economy. A number of best estimates can be made of the economic
contribution of tourism to The Gambia both now and for the future.

Responsible Tourism Policy

A Responsible Tourism Policy for The Gambia was launched by the Secretary
of State for Tourism and Culture at the 2004 World Travel Market in London.

This policy is a call to action in order to combat some of the inequalities and
negative impacts of tourism. The policy is addressed to the whole of the
tourism industry, government and the Gambia Tourism Authority. It identifies
objectives to achieve responsible marketing of the destination and to deal
with issues of economic, social and environmental responsibility.

It is envisaged that implementation of this policy will come through a

Responsible Tourism Partnership which is a multi stakeholder action group
that represents all interested parties working in the tourism arena. In terms
of implementation, working documents include 5 year targets and an annual
work plan.

Contribution of tourism to GDP in The Gambia

Tourism’s contribution to monetary GDP is targeted to increase from an
estimated 13 percent in 2004 to around 18 percent by 2020, which
implies that tourism will grow considerably faster than other sectors of
the economy. (Further information on tourism’s economic impact is
contained in Technical Report No 1.)
Foreign Exchange Earnings
Tourism is a major source of foreign exchange, vital given that as of
2004 the net current account deficit (excluding official transfers) was an
estimated US$59 million. Thus the need to earn foreign exchange is a
top priority.
After allowing for leakages of gross visitor expenditure due to imports
and payments retained outside The Gambia (which are assumed to
decrease from 45 percent in 2001 to 35 percent in 2020), net foreign
exchange earnings are targeted to increase from an estimated $40
million in 2004 to $130 million in 2020.
Contribution to Employment
Tourism-generated employment is projected to increase from an
estimated 16,000 jobs in 2004 to around 35,000 jobs in 2020. The
employment figures are for full-time jobs, or full-time job equivalents in

8
the case of persons (e.g. tour guides, souvenir vendors) who may
derive only part of their income from tourism. The total number of
persons either fully or partly dependent on tourism as a source of
livelihood is therefore greater than the employment figures alone would
suggest.
Contribution to Government Revenues
Assuming an average contribution from all tourism enterprises of 20
percent of gross revenues, the potential revenue yield from tourism
enterprises could increase from a notional D200 million in 2004
(compared with an actual tax collection of D54 million) to around D800
million in 2020.
An allocation of five percent of total tourism-generated revenues for
tourism promotion and other activities would generate some US$
500,000 in 2005 and Dalasi 41.3 million in 2020, assuming that the
potential tax yield were fully realised.
Linkages
Given that The Gambia is still primarily an agricultural economy, with as
yet underdeveloped manufacturing and services sectors, the main
scope for developing increased linkages between tourism and other
economic sectors lies with the agricultural sector (direct imports
represent approximately one-third of the cost of combined food and
beverage purchases) and with the informal sector, which surveys show
already captures, on average, approximately one-third of the total out-
of-pocket expenditure by visitors in The Gambia.
Spreading the Benefits
A serious contribution to the Government’s poverty reduction strategy is
to seek double or more the number of tourism-related jobs in both the
formal and informal sectors. Elements for achieving this are via higher
yields per visitor, including attracting large-scale investment in
designated sites in the coastal Tourism Development Areas as set out
in the Physical Tourism Planning Technical Report no 7.
Involvement of Informal Groups
Poverty is a major concern in The Gambia. The DFID Tourism
Challenge Fund funded a 20 month pro-poor tourism project which ran
from August 2000 to March 2002 working with the Association of Small
Scale Enterprises in Tourism (ASSET) on a series of participative
surveys to collect information about the perceptions of the tourists, tour
operators, hoteliers and inbound operators (or ground handlers). Each
of the informal sector groups (by the informal sector is meant all those
individuals and micro enterprises which engage with tourists and the
tourism industry, but are not members of the Gambian Hotel
Association or the Tourism and Travel Association) participated in the
research phase and identified what they saw as the significant barriers

9
 to their participation in the industry and reported on their sales during
the peak season (the first quarter) of 2001.

An agenda for action was identified for each informal sector group,
based on their understanding of the barriers that needed to be
overcome in order that their sales and income could be increased.
Discussions were held with government and the formal sector about
what they could contribute to improving market access and the
performance of the informal sector composed largely of poor
producers.

The following actions were suggested to improve the market access of

the informal sectors:

• Development of Codes of Conduct for each informal sector group

• Licensing to be extended and backed up by badging
• New destinations and products to be developed for excursions
• Insurance to be required for ‘high risk’ informal sector activities –
particularly the fishermen and accommodation providers
• Local sourcing of food, supplies and soft furnishings
• What’s On information to be placed in hotels and a regular
publication to be produced especially on businesses not part of
Tour Operators programmes.
• The need to encourage all SMEs to be a part of ASSET
• Help to ASSET to build its capacity to be able to organize training
etc. for its members.
2.4 The importance of tourism to The Gambia

Overall, the development of tourism in The Gambia has been a long-

term ‘success story’ for nearly forty years. Whilst there may be debates
about issues such as the distribution of benefits, social impacts and
environmental changes, there is no doubt that the contribution from the
macro-economic viewpoint – foreign exchange, value added for GDP,
employment, local incomes etc. – has had a major beneficial effect in a
small economy.
More importantly, tourism still has the potential to make a major
contribution to the Government’s efforts to grow the Gambian economy,
helping address issues such as poverty reduction. The visitor surveys
undertaken for the Plan indicate a core of satisfied visitors, some of
whom repeat and love the destination. So, there are market
opportunities that can be tapped into. The Gambia needs to encourage
the development of its tourism business such that it supports the
economic and social aims of the country.

10
THE SURVEY INDICATES THAT RATINGS ARE GOOD
FROM THE TOURISTS WHO COME TO GAMBIA

PERCENTAGE RATING AS GOOD OR VERY GOOD

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
around country

Safety
Accommodation

Tour Operator
Eating &
Drinking

Shopping

Cleanliness
welcome
People's
Transport

The sample’s response to the Gambian people is remarkably good. Some 93% give a
rating of ‘good’ or ‘very good’. Clearly, this is a potential 'product plus' which could
be made more of.
The rating of shopping in Gambia drops dramatically with only 51% rating it as
‘good’ or ‘very good’. Indeed 18% rated shopping as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’. Clearly,
shopping is not fulfilling the expectations of a considerable number of tourists.
The rating for cleanliness is clearly disappointing. Less than half of the sample rated it
as 'good' or 'very good', and indeed 22% rated it as 'poor' or 'very poor'. This would
suggest that this is an issue on which action will have to be taken by the tourist
planning authorities.

11
3. THE CHALLENGES FACING TOURISM IN THE GAMBIA

3.1 Introduction

The previous section has outlined the present and the potential
economic importance of tourism to the Gambian economy. It also
highlights the notion that Gambian tourism is now at a pivotal point in
its progress. It is possible to indicate that The Gambia is beginning to
illustrate some of the characteristics associated with the tourism
product lifecycle with the destination being in danger of going into
decline unless a concept of revival is introduced.
Figure 3.1 indicates that the surge that built up in the 1980s and 1990s,
and that would have taken The Gambia through to maybe 200,000 air
charter arrivals by the Year 2020 (a reasonable projection in, say,
1999) lost momentum in the period 2000 – 2004. It is possible to put an
interpretation on these figures that could suggest a stage in the tourism
product life cycle has been reached where some decline sets in, so
reducing air charter arrivals back down towards 60,000, if nothing is
done about it.
Figure 3.1 – Projections of Air Charter Arrivals
AIR CHARTER ARRIVALS - LONG TERM VIEW

250000
y = 271.8x 1.6519
R2 = 0.9334

200000

150000

y = 2719.3x - 10447
R2 = 0.9411
100000

50000
y = -2.726x 3 + 178x 2 - 533.72x + 3220.2
R2 = 0.9545

-50000
Calendar Year 1965-2020

12
Despite the maelstrom of changes elsewhere, Gambian tourism has
largely been able to operate with the same product, namely a winter-
sun destination product (but with an outstanding climate). Due
recognition has to be given to several outstanding innovative initiatives
such as Coconut Residence and Makasutu Lodge, but these are in the
minority.
What is clear is that there are a number of issues that have to be
addressed if any progress is going to be made and if The Gambia is
going to raise incomes from tourism as it badly needs to do. Why it
needs to do this is down to several reasons:
(1) the air flight access is relatively tenuous and there is a need for
more passengers to strengthen air flight access to different
markets and to provide more passenger and aircraft throughput to
repay running an international airport in Banjul;
(2) occupancy factors in the hotels are too low by modern competitive
standards. Generally tourist destinations nowadays cannot survive
on a short seasonal operation. The tourism business is just far
more competitive than it was twenty years ago;
(3) tourist accommodation in The Gambia, in general, is earning too
little money to properly refurbish and keep up standards that
tourists now expect – both in quality and range of facilities and with
reference to both physical standards and service standards.
Overall it adds up to the fact that The Gambia must get more tourists in
order to prosper as well as to progressively seek to raise spend per
visitor and to cater for increased levels of independent travel.
The issues that have to be addressed and that present key challenges
are:
• Minimal growth in the 10 years from 1994 to 2004, with associated
loss of market share for The Gambia in key originating markets
such as the UK
• Limited air access, limiting the market possibilities (and relatively
expensive air access compared to competitor destinations)
• Poor financial returns (as a result of low tariffs, short season)
creating difficulties in financing hotels and also in financing other
product improvements such as improvements to attractions
• Limited product portfolio and lack of differentiation
• Inconsistent standards and quality, including physical development
in TDA
• Debilitating inefficiencies in provision of utilities, notably electricity
• A special social issue with regard to the problem known as
‘bumsters’ (bomsers)

13
 Finding workable solutions to these different challenges is the key task
for this Tourism Development Master Plan. These issues can be
categorised under:
• Market Strategy and Destination Marketing;
• Air access and air capacity into The Gambia;
• Financing of hotels and product development, the product portfolio;
• Special Issues such as Bumsters and Utilities.
The issues in these four categories, on the one hand, if unresolved, are
capable of damaging the tourist destination, but on the other hand, the
resolution to the issues holds the key to the success of The Gambian
tourism industry both in the short-term and the long-term.
3.2 Choices for The Gambia

The pattern of tourism in The Gambia that has existed since the
industry has been established has focused on short (normally one
week) winter sun holidays sold via tour operators with access on
charter airlines and a standard pattern of excursions operated by local
ground handling companies. These holidays are typically sold on a half
board or full board basis, leaving limited incentive to eat outside hotels.
This form of tourism is subject to a number of forces:
z A decline in market share of package holidays, as independent
travel – encouraged by the availability of low-cost scheduled
airlines offering varying lengths of holiday (rather than standard
one or two week periods) and the availability of direct booking
via the internet;
z Consolidation of foreign tour operators, strengthening their
negotiating powers for the purchase of accommodation and
other services in destination countries;
z The diversification of the holiday market, with increased interest
in activity and adventure holidays and in environmental and
social issues (including poverty alleviation) as they appertain to
the holiday market.
The Gambia as a vacation destination is thus in an invidious position.
It has lost market share in a business (package tours) that are also
losing market share. Downward pressure on prices, notably for
accommodation, makes it difficult to maintain, let alone improve
accommodation standards.
The dependence on package tour operators and charter airlines for
access means that growth of independent travel is severely
constrained. Indeed for direct access to and from its principal market,
the UK, The Gambia has been dependent on charter airlines and, to a
large degree, on one medium sized operator, Serenity Holidays. While

14
 this company has been supportive of The Gambia as a holiday
destination, to be a destination that has undue dependence on one
company, with a declining market share in a market that is declining
overall is a dangerous position to be in. Serenity Holidays in 2006
though did make a step forward in working with Astraeus Airlines of the
UK to re-introduce scheduled flights between the UK and The Gambia.
The above analysis suggests that in order for tourism to play a stronger
role in the economy, and in poverty alleviation, a review of the various
options for development is appropriate.

Growth in ‘dynamic packaging’

The holiday market, including in The Gambia’s largest market, the UK,
is seeing a shift from conventional package holidays to ‘dynamic
packaging’. This is where the elements of a package are assembled
from different components to match the needs of a specific customer,
as against the purchase of a pre-assembled package from a brochure.
A survey in 2005 of the UK outbound market shows that while package
holiday bookings declined by 7%, travel agent sales of
accommodation-only and air-only were up by 31% and 15%
respectively. The Gambia as a destination is not as of 2006 well
placed to meet this change in purchasing patterns.

3.3 Options Considered

In conjunction with the industry and with the Government, consideration

was given to three different options for future tourism development in
The Gambia, which can be described as: -
Option 1 – Hold Level
Option 2 – Modest Increase
Option 3 – Double Income
These three options were considered in an industry/Government
strategy workshop:
Options 1 - ‘Hold Level’.
Essentially, this option involved letting things carry on as they are, but
make some product improvements (e.g. contain the ‘bumster’ problem,
clean up the TDA, implement a licensing system) and carry out
marketing improvements (e.g. partnership marketing, internet and PR).
However this is considered untenable as there would be a slow decline
as volume fell below thresholds for: -
• maintaining different series of air flights, so withdrawals would take
place,
• maintaining airport facilities,

15
• keeping up tour operator profitability so further loss of interest by
tour operators.
In effect whilst the aim was ‘hold level’ a possible downward spiral was
being risked, and so it was considered necessary to do more.
Option 2 - ‘Modest Increase’.
In this option, there is emphasis on more product development (e.g.
‘bumster free zone’ at airport, encouragement of refurbishments, official
guides, river cruising, ocean cruises, bird watching, fishing, soft
adventure, water sports, pause in newbuilds so increasing
occupancies, along with development of summer season options). Also
there is more emphasis on marketing (new Gambia image).
However, whilst this option would alleviate some of the problems of low
occupancy and limited product portfolio, this was considered to be not
enough because it did not tackle all the challenges facing the industry.
Option 3 - ‘Double Tourism Income’.
This is the selected option that was seen as tackling the challenges.
On the market side (in addition to actions in Options 1 and 2) there is:-
• a scheduled service route development programme aimed at
enabling the growth of independent travel, including of higher
spending visitors. This would build on the scheduled services
introduced in 2006 to/from the UK and the USA
• encouragement of all-inclusives and self catering
• a major increase in marketing spend
• maintaining existing ‘economy’ markets while developing higher
spending ‘luxury’ markets including special interest segments such
as cultural and adventure holidays

On the product development side there is:

• Dedicated tourism investment promotion
• A ‘green’ and restyled current TDA area with promenade areas,
tropical gardens, and shopping
• Development of the Southern TDA
• New nature based TDA in Western River
• More use of beaches with camels, quad bikes
• Pilot value for money coastal and river eco-lodges based on local
communities

Development will vary according to the timescale involved. In view of

the challenges facing the industry, it is best to think in terms of a short-
term five year strategy, leading into a medium term strategy that will in
turn form a platform for the longer term vision through to 2025. Tourism
is a highly capital intensive industry and especially in the short-term,

16
 the measures proposed will need to be realistic in terms of their capital
requirement and the willingness of the range of stakeholders to play
their part in the forthcoming plan.
3.4 Consensus View

The consensus view was that The Gambia must seek the third option
(‘Double Income’) because current spending per head and the current
numbers (say 90,000 tourists) are both too low. The first two options
risk a downward spiral because numbers are potentially below
thresholds for keeping airlines and tour operators interested in the
destination.

17
4. THE VISION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM

4.1 The Vision

The objective of The Gambia’s Vision 2020 for the tourism sector is
defined as

"to make The Gambia a tourist paradise and a major tourist destination
through product innovation, quality improvement, improvement of
investment returns and diversification of The Gambia's tourism
product".

The kind of Vision for The Gambia as a tourism destination which this
suggests, and which relates to the Option of ‘Double Tourism Income’,
can thus be described as:

A distinctive tourism destination that offers a high quality of experience

for our visitors that is sustainable and where strong economic and
social benefits are provided for Gambians.

Implications of this Vision are for:

• Progressive improvements in the quality and range of the

product offered, both in terms of accommodation and of ancillary
accommodation. This includes a wider geographical spread of
tourism within The Gambia;
• Strong marketing and promotion that enables The Gambia to
penetrate new markets, both geographically and in terms of
market segments;
• Higher standards of customer care, supported by quality
training.

Key results will include raised income levels from tourism, including via
higher average daily expenditure on the part of visitors to The Gambia.
Employment available in the industry will be more varied, spread more
widely geographically, and provide higher levels of job satisfaction.
Higher tax revenues will provide Government with enhanced resources
to address its poverty reduction agenda.

4.2 How the Vision is to be reached

The gap between tourism in The Gambia as it exists in 2006 and

where the country wishes to be at the end of the Tourism Development
Master Plan period is substantial.
The Vision can only be implemented by Government playing a key lead
role, working in tandem with the private sector. This will require

18
 political commitment from State House downwards and, given that
tourism is a cross-cutting activity, from a wide range of interests.
Government illustrated its commitment to the sector by the
establishment of The Gambia Tourism Authority (GTA). The Authority
has to be developed further if the Vision is to succeed, with a strong
effort to build institutional capacity in the Authority and in other
institutions related to tourism. This includes the Hotel School, which
should be developed both via capacity building and via new enhanced
facilities and courses into a National Tourism Training Institute (NTTI).
There have been substantial steps in the recognition of the role of small
and medium sized enterprises in tourism, including via the
establishment of the Association of Small Enterprises in Tourism
(ASSET). ASSET, the Hotel Association, the Tourism and Travel
Association, other interested parties and donors must work together
with the GTA and Government on a partnership basis if the Vision is to
be achieved.
The rich cultural heritage and natural resources will support the efforts
to diversify the product range. The appropriate institutional and legal
framework shall be put in place to ensure the development of the
respective human resources capable of undertaking the marketing,
promotional and operational activities.

The targets outlined in the Vision 2020 are still valid and far away from
unrealistic 'dreams' which often characterise medium and long-term
visions. The findings contained in the Technical Reports confirm that
the goals are achievable and that tourism can play the important role
as foreseen in the Vision.

Achieving the Vision will depend on a series of actions, e.g. continuous

government support towards tourism, political stability, competitive
product range, growing market demand, provision of relevant physical
and social infrastructure, sound environment and efficient institutional
arrangements. There is a need to streamline the development process,
by building capacity at national and local levels and by promoting a
strong public/private sector partnership.

4.3 Strategic Objectives

The realisation of the Vision requires the achievement of a number of

strategic initiatives:

Product consolidation and improvement

The Gambia enjoys an attractive sea-sun-sand product with a relatively
short flight distance and with little time change to large source markets
in Europe. However, many accommodation facilities and other product
components are not fulfilling modern requirements in terms of
standards and appearance and are in urgent need of renovation and
upgrading. Research revealed that increasing competition weakens

19
The Gambia's market position, mostly resulting in low room rates and
thus fewer funds for necessary reinvestment.

Product expansion and deepening

The present focus on middle/lower class beach tourism makes The
Gambia dependent on a limited number of tour operators as well as
making it very vulnerable against trends in an ever-changing tourism
environment. As The Gambia has not yet fully exploited its potential,
new product components can be added or expanded, thus widening
the presently small spectrum. Examples are cultural and nature based
holidays, opening up the interior, using the River Gambia cruises, and
involving the communities through a specifically designed offer.

The traditional beach tourism can also be extended by adding capacity

south of the present areas as well as complementing the present
accommodation by facilities directed to upper market segments and
new clientele, e.g. in the self-catering sector. The diversification of the
product is a condition for the successful development of tourism in The
Gambia.

Stabilisation of existing and opening-up of new source markets

At present, the flow of tourists to The Gambia is concentrated on a few
source markets, dominated by the United Kingdom with a small number
of tour operators. The German market almost disappeared within a
short time. The country has to improve this disadvantageous situation
by strengthening its position in the traditional markets; recapture lost
markets and approach new ones. Efforts to deal with new market
segments beyond the conventional "3 Ss" have to be intensified.

Institutional strengthening and capacity building

The management, monitoring and control of the day-to-day operation of
tourism as well as its medium and long term planning require an
efficient institutional and legal framework. The key role of The Gambia
Tourism Authority has to be strengthened and equipped with adequate
financial, human and technical resources. Cooperation between the
public and private tourism sector in a close partnership relationship is a
key issue for any future development.

Development of human resources in tourism and related sectors

Tourism is a service industry and therefore the human factor plays an
essential role in the delivery of the product. While the friendly attitude of
the staff in hotels and other tourist enterprises is regarded as very
positive by the visitors, there is an evident lack in terms of professional
skills and service standards. The design and implementation of a
coherent training and education system in tourism is imperative to meet
present and future demand in terms of quantity, quality and
qualifications.

20
Establishment and improvement of tourism related infrastructure
The deficiencies in The Gambia's tourism-related infrastructure are
already negatively affecting the sector, in particular with regard to
electricity and water supply as well the conditions of the road and ferry
services. Any future development both by upgrading the quality
standards and the expansion of capacity requires a significant
improvement in this field. This also applies to the opening-up of the
interior for new product segments, e.g. nature-based tourism.

Improvement of air access and visitor facilitation

As a result of The Gambia's dependence as of 2006 on a relatively
small group of European tour operators, only a few charter companies
are serving the destination, mostly limited to the winter season. Any
expansion of business requires an increase of frequencies, routings
and capacity, which can only be achieved by a joint effort of the
Gambian public and private sector together with the industry partners in
Europe.

Tourists' expectations with regard to the facilitation and comfort of their

stay in the destination are growing, and it is necessary to meet these
demands in terms of immigration/ customs procedures, tourist
information, signage, use of credit cards etc. Constant improvement in
this field is required to compete with other destinations.

Immigration at Banjul is generally quick, but the status of porters is

confusing and there is no prior explanation of customs procedures.
Prominent notices that provide clear guidance to visitors should be
provided, for porterage close to the immigration desks and for customs
in the baggage delivery hall. A standard advertised fee (in £ and €) for
porterage would assist, as would a clarification of the benefit of
engaging a licensed porter in relation to bumsters.

Departure procedures are more sound than for arrivals.

Improvement of linkages to other sectors

Tourism as a multifaceted socio-economic activity has a variety of
linkages to other sectors, in the case of The Gambia in particular to
agriculture, the major sector in the national economy. There are still
ways to increase the supply of local produce to the accommodation
and restaurant sector, thus reducing the imports and saving foreign
exchange.

Development of community-based enterprises in tourism

The diversification of the tourism product into the interior and through
the introduction of new types of niche markets, e.g. eco-tourism, will
allow communities to participate and benefit from the development of
the sector more than in the past. It can contribute to an improvement of
living conditions in rural areas through the creation of jobs and
generation of income, and mitigate the drift to the urban areas.

21
Mitigation of social and environmental impact
Although research related to the Tourism Master Plan showed that
tourism has only a modest negative impact on the social fabric of the
host country and the natural environment, measures have to be
undertaken to control any negative developments in this field. The
handling of the 'bumster' issue is one of the important initiatives.

Overall, the development of the tourism industry is going to require a

considerable effort of planning, investment, training, and awareness

22
5. SHORT TO MEDIUM TERM MARKET STRATEGY AND AIR
ACCESS

5.1 Introduction

The market strategy and the air access strategy are intimately
interlinked. There is little value in talking about markets in Europe that
cannot be reached by air services.
The critical difficulty for the Gambia is that there are few markets that
can be reached in a competitive manner. This relative lack of access
forces The Gambia both:
• To seek out markets that can be penetrated quickly to a certain
threshold level, that allows The Gambia to support the required air
services (e.g. Germany); and
• To penetrate deeper and deeper into markets which have
reasonable air access, but deeper and deeper penetration usually
means going down in the price spectrum and/or expanding market
niches without necessarily going down the price spectrum (e.g. UK).
An allied objective should be to develop the ECOWAS regional market,
where air services already exist and where it may be possible to
expand tourism outside the main winter season. This includes
pursuing meetings and conferences business, given the completion of
new conference facilities in 2006.
5.2 Short-term Market Strategy

The market strategy (as opposed to the marketing strategy) has to be

focused upon the pre-eminent markets namely: UK, Benelux,
Scandinavia, Germany and Spain. The priorities are:
EXISTING GEOGRAPHIC MARKETS –
UK
• Grow new business based around the newly launched, in 2006,
‘scheduled charter’ series out of Gatwick. If this can be promoted as
a scheduled service with tour basing fares for smaller tour
operators, then one can open up the specialist market niche
segments much more – e.g. birdwatching, deep sea fishing.
• In UK, try to open more winter charter series from airports not
currently servicing Banjul (and thus market catchments currently
underserved) e.g. Glasgow. East Midlands was a new originating
point in 2005/6.
The broad intention in the UK market is to try to widen the market
spectrum to allow a deeper mining of the market by increasing the
number of market segments that can be reached both geographically
and in terms of their product interests.

23
Benelux and Scandinavia
In Benelux and Scandinavia, the focus would also be on a deeper
mining of the markets but the emphasis here would be on trying to use
the shoulder seasons (September, October, April and May) to try to
increase the volume.
NEW MARKETS
Germany
An objective should be to get the German market going again in
significant numbers. This will need new charter series; it would be
assisted by the development of all-inclusive resorts. A short term
objective could be to get new charter series out of Munich and
Frankfurt.
Spain
Spain is an emerging market for The Gambia and one where the trends
are still unclear. However there is considerable tour operating capacity
and charter airline capacity in Spain as well as close links with the
Canary Islands, so a number of different propositions could be put to
the Spanish players in the market. There seems no reason why a
significant volume of tourists cannot be attracted from Spain.
Italy
Italy is a new market for The Gambia and one with special
characteristics. However, it is a market that has been developed by
competing destinations such as Kenya (in relation to the Kenya coast).
The GTA should learn about the market by a programme of visits to key
tour operators and with airport access incentives promote the
establishment of a flight series from northern Italy to Banjul.
West Africa
The regional market is as yet untapped. The presence of existing
scheduled services suggests that pilot initiatives should be made in
ECOWAS member states, in collaboration with regional airlines, aimed
at both the business and leisure markets.

HIGHER YIELD MARKET MIX

A key element of the Vision is to attract visitors with a higher average
spend per day – those who can be regarded as more ‘up-market’. This
involves increased volumes of independent travel and those with
specialist interests in ‘niche’ tourism products including cultural
tourism. The opening of the Sheraton Hotel, and new scheduled
services from the UK and the USA, gives the opportunity for a new
impetus in this direction. This has to be pursued in both existing
geographical markets and in new ones in Europe and North America.
Priority geographical markets in this context are Spain, the UK and the
North Eastern seaboard of the USA.

24
 NICHE MARKETS AND MARKET SEGMENTS
The USA offers potential in the special Roots market. This merits
highly targeted promotion among those of African descent resident on
the eastern seaboard and the New York Metropolitan area. The GTA
should facilitate co-operation between Gambian ground handlers and
their counterparts in Senegal to give an impetus in promoting the
Gambian product using direct flight access.
New members of the EU in Eastern Europe are potential new
geographic markets worthy of investigation. Initially travel would likely
need to be via scheduled flights, so that identification would need to be
made of niche market segments that can be developed.
Particular market segments for development include further
development of bird watching, cultural tourism (including the Roots
market), educational and professional visits, nature based tourism
(including fishing), wellness and special events including sports tourism
and recreation.

HIGHER YIELDING MARKET NICHES

The development of specialised market niches is facilitated by the
growth of scheduled services. Primary targets for development in this
context should be adventure tourism (potentially linked into Senegal)
and cultural tourism for those with a specific interest in the cultural
richness and diversity to be found in The Gambia. As new facilities are
provided, the “wellness”, sport fishing and golfing markets can be
targeted, particularly in the UK.
5.3 Air Access

The Gambia needs increased frequency of air access and capacity in

order to sustain Banjul airport and in order to widen the market
potential for the tourist destination.
Whilst cruise ship calls and tourists entering by road into The Gambia
should be encouraged, the bulk of the tourist market will remain with air
travel for the foreseeable future. So the market opportunities are
inextricably linked with the air flights that can be encouraged into The
Gambia through Banjul.
Banjul has some opportunities for acting as a hub airport into other
West African cities but it is not a location which is likely to be a major
stopover, or interchange point.
The air access situation in The Gambia improved in 2006 with the re-
introduction of a scheduled service to/from London Gatwick and with
weekly services to/from Baltimore/Washington in the USA. The London
service is operated by Astraeus with Serenity Holidays (trading as the
Gambia Experience) acting as GSA. In 2005 there was only very
limited scheduled air access from Europe consisting of two weekly
flights from Brussels. Neighbouring Dakar is served daily by regional
carriers but as of 2006 only one of these is bookable outside the

25
 region. The majority of tourists continue to arrive on flights chartered
by tour operators.
The Gambia is hindered in its efforts to grow the market because of
limited direct air access, particularly from Continental Europe.

AIR ACCESS STRATEGY

Air access is fundamental to tourism in The Gambia. The strategy is to
expand the level of service, with increased scheduled ‘charter’ flights
along the model adopted in 2006 to/from London, and to increase
charter flight access from new originating points. The strategy is also
to maintain a direct connection with North America and to develop
tourism on the basis of West African routes. The strategy is to be
pursued via a support package of measures to new and additional
services that meet the objectives of the Tourism Development Master
Plan. The support package is detailed in Technical Appendix 2, Air
Access.

As can be seen the resolution to the air access problem in the short-
term is
• To provide support to the continued development of the ‘scheduled
charter’ concept out of the UK following its introduction to/from
Gatwick in 2006, because a scheduled service (even if a ‘scheduled
charter’) has the potential to widen the market spectrum in terms of
independent travel and of niche market segments;
• To find new airports in UK for charter series (and thus new market
catchments)
• To revive the German market with new charter series.
Since air transport is a ‘derived demand’ the view is taken that major
incentives for airlines are not necessary, but rather, creating original
demand is the key. The main incentive will be a scheme for tour
operator marketing support, financed by the levy charged to arriving
charter passengers. This air access strategy will of course be
supported by a destination marketing/promotional strategy.
5.4 Business Development - Scheduled Routes

There is a need to lessen dependency on seasonal tour operator

charters and to improve scheduled service air access. This will enable
independent travel to grow, including of those visitors more likely to
make use of smaller scale tourism developments. It will also enable
operators in The Gambia to take advantage of new marketing and
promotional opportunities available via the Internet.
Scheduled service access has two components (a) establishing new
routes, and (b) increasing frequency on existing routes. Ideally, in the
longer term, the objective should be to have (a) daily non-stop flights
from key regional destinations; (b) daily service from London and (c) 2-
3 weekly flights from two points in Continental Europe, possibly
Amsterdam and Frankfurt.

26
 Recommendations to resolve these issues focus upon Route Support
Schemes to be operated by GCAA (see annexes to Technical Report
No 2, Air Access) that would entail giving discounts to scheduled
service operators who open new routes or add frequency. The
discounts would apply to landing fees; lighting charges and passenger
charges on a graduated scale, e.g. new, year round routes receive the
highest rebates. Those airlines operating on a charter basis (such as
Monarch and Transavia) should be offered similar incentives to operate
on a scheduled rather than a charter basis. There would be similar
incentives for operations that move up to daily or double daily
frequencies.
5.5 Business Development - Tour Operator/Charter Operators

Charter airlines operate on behalf of tour operators and so the tour

operators need to be targeted with incentives to open new markets
and/or to extend the season. The recommended strategy is to have an
incentive programme (see annexes to Technical Report No 3) to
reward both these categories of tour operator. The approach would
involve the main stakeholders, e.g. airport, hotels and Government
(GTA). The formal incentives would be given by GCAA by way of
reduced landing fees (but not passenger charges) and by GTA in terms
of cooperative marketing funds linked to the number of qualifying
tourists carried on the new routes or during the expanded season.
5.6 Domestic Operations

In the longer term, it might be possible to provide domestic flights from

Banjul to Georgetown and Basse Santa Su using a 12 passenger
Caravan airplane capable of landing on simple landing strips. In order
to compensate for low load-factors and to contribute to the fixed
overhead the ticket prices would probably have to be US$ 100 return at
2006 prices assuming 75% load factor. While this service would still be
affordable by tourists, the operation would need local customer support
in order to maintain a year round service.
5.7 Banjul International Airport

The airport is managed by CGAA and meets all international standards

with regards to operational facilities. The terminal facilities are basic
and there are ongoing comments regarding the standard of customer
service, especially in relation to the porters and ‘bumsters’ who operate
in and around the terminal. Gambia International Airlines (GIA) have a
monopoly on ramp handling although a private company, Air Reps, can
provide passenger check-in. Costs of landing and handling in Banjul
and are up to 50% higher than in Gatwick (and Dakar). Fuel costs are
also higher in Banjul, with the result that Banjul is not a low-cost airport.
This reflects the relatively modest level of traffic at Banjul which has to
meet a significant level of fixed costs.
Despite the cost issues it is recommended that both GCAA and GIA
review their cost structures and introduce some measures to

27
 encourage new business and to reduce congestion by operating a
peak/off-peak tariff.
5.8 Gambia International Airlines

Gambian International Airlines is 100% state owned and engages in

travel agency, airport handling and flight operations activities. GIA has
been applying for an Air Operators Certificate; it previously operated a
weekly flight to/from London Gatwick via Futura Airlines. GIA would
need to upgrade its complete operation (marketing, equipment,
schedule, reservations, GDS participation, web booking, customer
service), if it is to make any impact in the European markets.
It is recommended to break up GIA into separate companies dealing
with Handling, Travel Agency & Tour Operations and Airline
Operations. The airline division should operate completely separate
from the Handling and Travel & Tours businesses.

28
6. SHORT TO MEDIUM TERM DESTINATION MARKETING
STRATEGY

6.1 Findings from the Tour Operator Survey

The Gambia has done relatively little destination marketing leaving the
matter largely to the tour operators. The outcome has been that there is
low awareness of The Gambia as a destination even in the relatively
few markets that The Gambia can access. Technical Report no 5,
‘Marketing and Promotion’, was prepared after consultations with a
broad spectrum of the European travel trade including the
dissemination and analysis of a tour operator survey questionnaire.
Further information was gained from in-depth interviews and an
analysis of tour operators’ 2004/05 brochures to assess the current
product range offered and image portrayed both by The Gambia and
the country’s main competitors.
The Survey found that The Gambia is a long established winter beach
destination in need of rejuvenation. Market appeal is relatively narrow,
based upon traditional beach hotels, a short season, middle income
and middle to upper age segments – the target markets need to be
broadened and new products for those markets developed.
Gaps in the product portfolio
The Gambia’s key selling points presented by most tour operators
focus on the beaches, the weather, the friendly welcome, peaceful,
relaxing atmosphere, vibrant culture, river and birdlife. Some tour
operators also mention negative aspects including strong sea currents,
hassle from locals, lack of nightlife and basic standards in resorts.
Tour operators are highly consistent in identifying what they see as the
main constraints to growth for tourism in The Gambia:
z Lack of awareness
z Poor infrastructure
z Lack of Investment
z Poor product quality.

There is a significant market opportunity gap in The Gambia’s

accommodation portfolio, excluding as it does any self-catering or all-
inclusive style properties.
However, each of these accommodation options has constraints to
development. In the case of self-catering operators were concerned
that the infrastructure in terms of restaurants and supermarkets etc did
not exist in sufficient quantity or quality to support this option. The lack
of a reliable public electricity supply, and the consequent reliance on
generators, is also a significant constraint.
All-inclusive style hotels or beach clubs are generally acknowledged as
a highly saleable product that could suit The Gambia well, although

29
standards of service and hygiene would need to be improved. This
form of tourism product was viewed as commercially attractive for tour
operators and likely to attract a wider customer audience.
Visitors enjoy the friendly attitude of the Gambian people and this
positive aspect is stressed by tour operators in their brochures.
However service levels in many areas fall below the levels expected by
tour operators and customers.
The range of attractions was the aspect that scored most poorly with all
tour operators giving a rating of poor or satisfactory. The Gambia
offers no traditional holiday destination attractions and there are only a
limited number of bars and restaurants.
Although there are around 3,000 rooms in Gambian establishments, as
of 2005 the major UK operators only featured 6 properties whose
combined 1,300 rooms could be considered to represent The Gambia’s
“international” bedstock by virtue of their size and relative quality prior
to the completion of the Sheraton resort.
Market Share
The Gambia has lost market share in its core UK market which grew by
28% overall in the 5 years to 2004 whilst the Gambian UK traffic has
only moved by 9%.
The visitor survey conducted at the airport in April 2004 indicated that
The Gambia has two key competitors - the Canary Islands and Egypt –
both having similar flying times from the source markets and a relatively
similar exotic appeal to the European tourist.
Regional and Domestic Market

There are an increased number of middle and upper class citizens

domestically and within the region who would contribute to the
development of tourism and use tourism facilities and attractions. There
is the need for promotional strategies to develop the regional and
domestic market. Bi-lateral agreements and trading between different
tourism providers between regional countries can also be
strengthened.

Destination marketing
By far the strongest key motivators for customers choosing The
Gambia are identified by operators as the weather and value for
money/ price. Destination awareness in the marketplace is weak – a
plan to develop and implement a complete re-branding of “The
Gambia” needs to be undertaken.
Concerns are expressed both about the low level of consumer
awareness of The Gambia and a lack of product knowledge amongst
the travel trade. The success of Egypt’s Red Sea campaign was
identified as potential model for success. The campaign took a holistic

30
 approach combining consumer advertising with product improvements,
good prices and trade support and subsidies.
On the positive side perceptions were that The Gambia is fairly safe in
comparison with other African destinations. Tour operators have
concerns regarding airport security (abysmal); hassle from locals and
hotel rooms not being secure resulting in theft.
Customers who have never been to The Gambia have many negative
preconceptions. They see The Gambia as a third world country and
are concerned amongst other things about, poor quality, poverty and
hassle, as they would be concerned about most African countries.
Customers who have travelled to The Gambia find that the
accommodation is not the most luxurious but it is fine. The resorts are
very much as you might expect of a holiday destination, the people are
friendly and although visitors do get hassled, it is not aggressive.
6.2 Short-term Marketing Objectives

The various surveys carried out in the course of preparing the Tourism
Development Master Plan – notably the visitor surveys and the tour
operator surveys – indicate that the general marketing aims that have
to be achieved in the short to medium term are:
• ‘Rejuvenate the destination’;
• Broaden the markets and the market segments; and
• Broaden the product portfolio.
These general aims have been restated as marketing objectives and
strategies to reach these objectives. All of these are cast within the
overall strategy for development which is to ‘Double Income’ within the
timeframe through to 2025. The ‘Double Income’ option is seen as
essential for survival because the tourist numbers are seen as possibly
becoming too low to sustain the air services, too low to sustain the
interest of the major tour operators, and too low to maintain fixed
destination costs such as the airport. Whilst there is a desire to
encourage the independent traveller, and this is a key aim of the
longer-term strategy, the tour operators are likely to remain key players
in The Gambia for the foreseeable future. Their important role has to be
recognised and encouraged accordingly.
In order to ‘Rejuvenate the destination’ we are proposing an overall
strategy that can be described as a ‘boutique’ strategy. It is based upon
broadening the market spectrum (i.e. finding more source markets) and
broadening the spectrum of market segments (i.e. finding more niches
in established markets).

31
6.3 Broadening the market

Critical to the overall strategy are the following factors:

1. The German market should be recovered; and
2. The British market has to be ‘mined more deeply’ with a wider
range of market segments.
3. The Benelux and Scandinavian markets have to be ‘mined more
deeply’, but the key opportunity there appears to be in opening
up the shoulder seasons – October, April, May.
German Market
Only a small number of operators feature The Gambia in the German
market. Operators are not able to identify clear and specific target
groups in the German market for The Gambia. The general observation
is that the current (small) number of German tourists tends to be either
repeaters from the mid 90’s or those seeking a simple sun and beach
holiday.
In general, German tour operators stated that The Gambia offers no
more than a reasonable product. Nevertheless, the demand for an
increase of all-inclusive hotels in the near future is very high,
particularly in light of there being perceived to have been no
improvement in The Gambia’s tourism infrastructure in recent years,
e.g. leisure activities, renovation of historical sites.
Improvements need to be seen not only in tourism infrastructure, but
also in the quality of accommodation, e.g. more four star hotels as
bookings of this hotel category have increased in the last years, as well
as the extension of the range of attractions. Additionally, the German
tour operators are looking above all for an improvement of service
standards. German tour operators suggest that The Gambia develops
a proper destination image and as a result is able to be clear in
identifying target customer types.
The most significant constraint to the task of building German market
volume reported by German operators is that of air access. There is an
urgent need for regular direct flights from Germany to The Gambia from
major airports.
With the exception of Condor, no other German airline was flying as of
2005/6 to The Gambia. The most critical criterion for The Gambia's
future in the German market is the all-inclusive offer. The market of all-
inclusive holidays in Germany continues to grow and a destination
without all-inclusive hotels will be difficult to sell to German customers
in the future.
Possible future product areas for tourism development include products
with a high potential of probable interest for German tour operators are

32
eco-tourism, cultural tourism, bird watching, adventure tourism, water
sports and twin centres with Senegal.
With regard to an extension into the German market in the low season,
although 80% of the tour operators do not include The Gambia in their
summer programme, 50% would consider it as an interesting
opportunity if the product offer included all-Inclusive properties and the
price/performance-ratio maintained its present position.
UK Market
In the UK eight major tour operators featured The Gambia in their
winter brochures as of 2005. Only one UK tour operator, Serenity
Holidays (The Gambia Experience) features a year round programme
to The Gambia. Most UK tour operators feature The Gambia in either
their Winter Sun brochure or long haul brochure or in both. Only The
Gambia Experience has a dedicated Gambia brochure.
All UK tour operators have been using charter flights to The Gambia.
In 2004/05 four charter airlines (Astraeus, First Choice, Monarch and
Thomas Cook) flew to The Gambia from three UK departure points
(Gatwick, Manchester and Bristol). All tour operators feature Gatwick
and Manchester departures. Only The Gambia Experience features
departures from Bristol using Astraeus Airlines; in the 2005/6 season it
added East Midlands as an originating point. The largest UK tour
operator, Thomson (part of TUI), does not operate its own aircraft to
The Gambia and operates only a relatively small programme using
other the aircraft of other companies.
In total 24 different hotels in The Gambia were featured in UK tour
operator brochures as of 2004/5. On average tour operators feature a
choice of 5 or 6 hotels in each brochure ranging from the lowest
number of 3 hotels featured in First Choice Winter Sun programme to
over 18 featured in the Gambia Experience brochure. The ratings of
the hotels vary from 2 to 5 stars in the mainstream tour operator
brochures.

A constraint for tour operation is that foreign tour operators prefer to

feature accommodation that is unique to that operator within any given
originating market. In The Gambia the small number of hotels
acceptable to tour operators seriously constrains this possibility, with
most tour operators having to feature the same hotels. This enables
price comparisons to be made by the customer, which emphases the
pressure on price to neither the benefit of The Gambia nor of the
foreign tour operator.

Several specialist companies operate small programmes to The

Gambia from the UK. Most of these operators feature The Gambia as
one of a range of destinations offering a particular type of holiday. Key
areas of interest are bird watching, nature and cultural holidays.
There are “clusters” of opportunities for partnership between niche tour
operators and destinations in the development and operation of resort

33
 facilities. These include sport and wildlife activities on land and sea,
such as golf and diving. Given the general paucity of dangerous
wildlife in The Gambia there are opportunities too for “soft adventure”.
There are also opportunities for partnerships in the health ‘Wellness’
field, especially in the winter season, which could be developed jointly
with EU Tour Operators.
Benelux
Unlike both the UK and German markets, the Dutch consumer is
provided with good opportunities to visit The Gambia in the
shoulder/green months. The Dutch have responded well to the off-
season prices available and visitor arrivals have increased
substantially.
The Dutch operators mentioned that in addition to the ‘bumster’
problem the risk of catching malaria in The Gambia puts the country at
a distinct disadvantage when consumers consider competing
destinations that do not have these ‘hassle’ factors.
As with the other markets, the Dutch also maintain that The Gambia’s
key selling points are price, climate, beaches and friendly people. The
target market in the Benelux is seen as the middle-income, middle-
aged traveller looking for a relaxed affordable beach holiday in a good
climate and within reasonable flying distance. It is notable that the
issue of price and affordability are constant rejoinders from the Dutch
customer.
Table 6.1: Brochure analysis, UK tour operators, Winter 2004/5

HOTEL RESORT Rooms Star Rating No. of operator brochures

CORINTHIA ATLANTIC Banjul 240 4 11
SENEGAMBIA BEACH Kololi 325 4 11
KOMBO BEACH Kotu 250 4 10
SUN BEACH Bakau 192 4 8
PALM GROVE Banjul 136 3+ 5
KAIRABA Kololi 156 4+ 5
TAFBEL Kololi 98 2+ 5
PALMA RIMA Kololi 152 3 3
SUNSET BEACH Kotu 94 3+ 3
FAJARA Kotu 240 2+ 2
HOLIDAY BEACH CLUB Kololi 80 2+ 2
PALM BEACH Kotu 120 2+ 2
NGALA LODGE Bakau 10 Deluxe 1
AFRICAN VILLAGE Bakau 71 2 1
OCEAN BAY Bakau 195 4 1
CAPE POINT Bakau 62 2 1
MAKASUTU LODGE Inland 3 Deluxe 1
COCONUT RESIDENCE Kololi 40 Deluxe 1
BIJILO BEACH Kololi 21 3+ 1
PARADISE Kololi 73 3 1
MANSEA BEACH Kololi 60 2 1
BUNGALOW BEACH Kotu 110 3+ 1
BAKOTU Kotu 88 3 1
BADALA PARK Kotu 200 2 1
TOTAL HOTELS 24 3016
Source: Consultant’s Research. Smaller niche properties such as Coconut Residence and Makasatu Lodge are
featured only by The Gambia Experience.

34
6.4 The product portfolio

To support the market strategy, it is essential to see a broadening of

the product portfolio. In terms of accommodation, there is a need for:
• More large, high quality hotel accommodation (150 rooms, 4-star);
• Continual expansion of smaller properties – hotels, self-catering
lodges, community facilities, rooms – in order to broaden the
product portfolio and to support the independent traveller who will
take advantage of the proposed ‘scheduled charters’.
• All-inclusive packages and marketing of such packages, especially
in the German market.
Despite the absence of data on occupancy and yields it is fairly clear
that many hotels in The Gambia are not economically sustainable –
yields do not permit the refurbishment of rooms. This means that a
significant part of the industry is not sustainable.
There is the need to devise practical strategies to get more hotels
refurbished (such as the Wadner Beach and Fajara Hotel) and back
into profitability before the bed stock is increased again and the
competition from new hotels with recently decorated rooms forcing
other hotels to loose business. The key challenge is to both increase
volumes and to raise the average yield per room. This needs to be
accompanied by a strengthening of the Quality Inspectorate Unit to a
strong uniformed policing unit with the mandate to close premises of
non-complying institutions.
In terms of packages, there is a need to see a wider range of niche
markets being tapped, including: -
• eco-tourism, cultural tourism, bird watching, adventure tourism,
water sports and twin centres with Senegal, especially in the
German market;
• sport and wildlife activities on land and sea, such as golf and diving,
“soft adventure” and ‘wellness’, lifestyle related packages,
especially in the UK market.
Again, the concept of ‘scheduled charter’ would give this a substantial
boost in both the German and UK markets.
The tourism product is not limited to the actual accommodation or
physical activities enjoyed. There are aspects such as the timing, e.g.
trying to introduce ten/eleven day packages, alternative pricing of
packages, and also links with neighbouring destinations such as
Senegal, and with Mali and into Timbuktu. Historically this was a very
significant route up the River Gambia.
The general thrust of the strategy is to broaden the product portfolio of
The Gambia, making it look extremely interesting, even with small
niche products, in order to get away from the perception that it is a

35
 highly limited destination offering just standard seven night winter sun
packages.
Broadening the product falls into line with broadening the markets and
broadening the market segments.
6.5 Destination Marketing

General
With few exceptions, all tour operators are keen to see some form of
destination marketing to support their efforts. The following areas were
identified:
• Consumer advertising
• Travel trade training and educationals
• Joint promotion with tour operators and retailers
• Joint marketing in resort
• Press trips and PR
There were concerns expressed both about the low level of consumer
awareness of The Gambia and a lack of product knowledge amongst
the travel trade.
The Visitor Survey (See Figure 6.1) found that 65% of tourists coming
each year are ‘first time visitors’ to The Gambia. Consequently the
tourism industry has to find that number of new visitors each year – a
far from inconsiderable marketing task and one that argues for more
destination marketing to be carried out by GTA.
Small and Medium business development is paramount if tourism is to
contribute effectively to development and expansion in Gambia. If niche
marketing and specialised tourism is to be encouraged the SME sector
will also need equal marketing and promotion through tourism
information centres and tourism authority support.

GTA’s Role and Core Concepts

The primary role of the GTA is to “market The Gambia as an attractive
tourist destination through the use of appropriate promotional and
marketing activities”. The GTA also has product development,
licensing and training responsibilities in relation to tourism. The
position of the GTA as of 2005 is described in Annex 3. The GTA, or a
remodeled marketing and promotional organisation, has a key role to
play in developing and implementing the destination marketing strategy
for The Gambia. Working in partnership with the private sector the
GTA should consider adopting the following core themes, which
combine to underpin the marketing strategy:
Branding: Establish a strong and sustainable brand positioning
providing optimal yield and seasonality spread;

36
With about 100,000 holidaymakers per year and high rates of repeat
visiting The Gambia ought to be working to enable returning
holidaymakers to attract back even higher levels of repeat visitors and
referrals. Some sectors of the UK market have been barely touched –
certainly some are deterred by the image of cheap dull 3S holidays.
Further investment in an image that deters some of the growth sectors
needs to be avoided. Rather a brand positioning should seek to
accelerate and support the growth of alternative forms of tourism, which
are beginning to grow in The Gambia with little support.

Target Markets: Focus on and aim to increase penetration of the core

established markets in the short term (UK, Benelux and Scandinavia)
and simultaneously address the issues of re-building a strong presence
in the German speaking markets. In the medium term consider further
actions to penetrate the growing Spanish market.

Comments are regularly made by the private sector in The Gambia

about the lack of a proper strategy for promotional activities and also
about the number of GTA officials that attend travel fairs (with little or
no impact). The strong private sector involvement in the establishment
of the Tourism Stakeholders Marketing and Promotion Group
(TSMPG) and the good work this group did has demonstrated that
there is a lot of expertise within the private sector as evident in the
preparations of the Marketing Policy, Budget and Work Plan done by
the TSMPG. A strong private sector involvement will make it easier for
outside institutions to provide support to capacity building for the
marketing of The Gambia.

Distribution: Effectively exploit the benefits of new media

communication and distribution systems to improve the speed,
timeliness, depth and breadth of The Gambia’s destination information.
Promotion: Develop a portfolio of evocative promotional materials that
communicates to the target audience a clear message that consistently
enhances and capitalises on The Gambia’s qualities and advantages.

One of The Gambia’s key challenges is to reduce its dependency on a

small number of tour operators. The strategy of diversifying the range
of tour operators and originating markets attracted by The Gambia will
contribute to this – but there is a lot of competition in the 3S market and
it is increasing at a time which market trends are moving towards
different kinds of holidays with more cultural content and a more
experiential style. The Gambia is well placed to capitalise on this
opportunity.

Partnerships: Provide strong leadership to The Gambian travel trade

and develop valuable strategic relationships with stakeholders and
relevant non-tourism organisations to harness the collective resource
and expertise;

37
Organisation: Build a focussed organisational structure and culture to
increase sector efficiency and effectiveness and increase the quality
and delivery of customer research and market intelligence to the travel
trade.
Branding
The GTA has struggled to effectively introduce the image re-positioning
adopted in 2001 when a new brand name for the national tourism
product was launched with a new logo and strap-line: The Gambia –
‘Your Haven in Africa’. Some 18 months after the launch the GTA
commented that the new logo and strap-line had not been promoted
even within The Gambia, and that it was still common to hear tourist
guides using the slogan ‘The Smiling Coast’.
In 2006 the situation has not changed dramatically and it is not unusual
to see much of the Gambian tourism product still promoting on the
Internet ‘The Smiling Coast’. The rationale for change at the time was
based upon the opinion that a change was deemed necessary
‘because the old ‘Smiling Coast’ logo and strap-line had for more than
three and a half decades promoted The Gambia as a Sun, Sea, Sand
destination, largely ignoring other important attributes of our product
including the culture, bird-life and the river’.
The reason for change could be argued to be flawed on two counts.
Firstly most NTOs would highly welcome the marketing opportunities
created by a thoroughly established and embedded destination slogan.
Precious few NTOs can claim to have slogans lasting longer than the
tenure of the most recent chairman. The entire purpose of a
communications strategy is to build marketplace awareness not of a
strap-line but of the attributes and character or personality of the end
product.
What is clear, however, is that The Gambia is a long established winter
beach destination in need of rejuvenation. A re-branding exercise may
support this rejuvenation, but only in so far as the implementing agency
itself, the GTA, acknowledges that its core function is destination
marketing and its key task is to take a holistic view of The Gambia
tourism product and effectively promote “The Gambia Brand” across
the marketplace.
The aim of a well-executed destination ‘brand’ is to support a
comprehensive marketing strategy that seeks to attract the appropriate
target audience to The Gambia and make sure they have an enjoyable
experience and consequently become ambassadors for the country.
Importantly, in this regard the GTA acts as the cohesive agency
between the public (funding arm) sector and The Gambia’s private
tourism sector.
The Gambia brand must be one both supported by the tourism private
sector and the community at large. It must have the attributes to
generate pride of ownership and be a sufficiently attractive proposition
so as to engender endorsement and incorporation into the marketing

38
programmes of the Gambian travel trade and business sector – hence
creating a multiplier effect which expands the value of the GTA’s own
marketing spend on the brand.
Information Technology
Information technology is having a dramatic effect on the means in
which tourism products are being distributed. It is one of the forces that
has enabled the growth of low cost airlines and of direct booking
generally, with a consequent reduction in the level of commissions paid
to travel agents in originating countries.
The GTA has a web site, visitthegambia.gm, which contains a range of
tourism information. However, it is only available in English - in
contrast, Namibia’s tourism web site is available in five languages, and
Spain’s in seven. The GTA site does not, for example, contain detailed
information, web links or direct booking for hotels and other forms of
accommodation, nor does it contain news or information on special
events. Travel web sites, such as expedia.com, feature few hotels in
The Gambia. This pattern reinforces the dependence on foreign tour
operators and does not encourage individual travel.
This is of less significance while scheduled flights from Europe are so
restricted, but will become important as scheduled flights are
developed. At this stage the GTA should consider the development of
its information technology operations to provide for the direct booking
of a spread of accommodation. It could do this in conjunction with a
specialist software provider or web booking engine.

39
 Table 6.2: Key European Target Markets- Segments and Strategies
SOURCE KEY MARKET SEGMENTS
MARKET
UK • Middle to upper income
group (28- 45yrs; couples,
young professionals) for
beach and activities
• Over 50 years: couples/
young retired for beach with
soft adventure
• Niche groups: adventure,
special interest and sport
(bird watching, big game
fishing and golf)
• Incentive market
Benelux • Middle to upper income
(young professionals,
couples, and over 50s
travellers) for beach and soft
adventure.
• Niche groups: ecotourism,
adventure, hiking, golf, water
sports, culture
Germany • Up-market luxury market for
safari (40+)
• Middle to up market young
professionals for soft
adventure tours (25-45)
• Middle market for beach
holidays (30+)
• Incentive market
• Niche markets: hiking, biking,
adventure, living culture, bird
watching, golf
Scandinavia • Higher income traveller
(young professionals and
couples 28-55 years)
• Incentive market
• Niche markets: adventure,
living culture, and golf.
Spain • Middle to up market families
for sports (35-55)
• Travel trade partners (tour
operators, travel agencies,
media and airline companies)
• Incentive & special interest
groups
STRATEGIES / ACTIVITIES
Strategies:
Product strategy:
• Diversification and extension from traditional
beach towards more upmarket adventure
and niche products of specific interest for
UK market (adventure, bird watching, golf,
big game fishing, etc.)
Communication strategy
• Improve and diversify the image of the
destination and enhance brand awareness
with travel trade and consumers through PR
and joint marketing with trade partners
Strategies:
Product strategy:
• Product diversification and development
(adventure, active and culture)
Communication strategy:
• Improve the image of the destination as a
value for money shoulder/green season
destination through PR
• Build brand awareness and confidence
through positioning and joint marketing with
travel trade and third party partners.
Strategies:
Product strategy:
• Product diversification into luxury and
adventure/niche products
Communication strategy
• Develop image of the destination as a quality
and varied destination through PR
• Build brand awareness through positioning
and joint marketing
• Image development through PR editorials
Strategies:
Product strategy
• Product diversification into quality
accommodation and adventure/active
holidays
Communication strategy
• Brand development and awareness
campaigns through joint marketing
• Travel trade promotion
Strategies:
Product strategy
• Increase of product availability for market
including air access
Communication strategy
• Further develop brand awareness among
trade and consumer and increase visibility of
destination
• Diversify image towards niche products
availability towards trade through fams and
PR (adventure, living culture)
40
Figure 6.1 Number of Visits to The Gambia

THE SURVEY SHOWS THAT WHILST GAMBIA IS A

REPEAT DESTINATION IT STILL HAS TO FIND 65%
FIRST TIME TOURISTS EVERY YEAR

Number of times visited Gambia (%)

Four & more 15.1

Third visit 5.5
Second visit 14.4

First time 65.1

0 20 40 60 80

First-time tourists as opposed to repeat tourists represent different

market segments requiring different approaches to marketing to these
segments and often different product attributes for the different
segments.

What holiday is this (%)

50
40
30
20
10
0
Main Second Third Other
holiday holiday holiday

The market for Gambia can be perceived as dividing into a market for main holidays and a
market for second holidays. There are further niches for third holidays and others.

41
7. SHORT TO MEDIUM TERM PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

7.1 Background on the Gambian Tourism Product

Natural Assets
The Gambia's prime tourism assets are the beaches along the Atlantic
coast of which the stretch from Bakau to Bijilo is the most developed
area. Significant beach erosion has been countered by rehabilitation
programmes. Undeveloped beach areas of very good quality exist
south of Brufut to the Senegalese border.
Another asset is the year-round warm climate, the prerequisite for
(European) "winter sun" holidays, in particular in view of limited
rainfalls. Temperatures and precipitation during the so-called rainy
season allow for summer holidays comparable to Mediterranean
destinations. However, there is a perception among tour operators that
unfavourable conditions prevail during the period from May to
September.
The River Gambia is a potential natural tourist attraction, but it is used
for tourism purposes only to a limited extent, mainly for day excursions
from the tourist areas. Efforts to offer cruises up-river produced only
limited results, partly because of an unattractive offer and subsequently
lack of demand.
Fauna and flora are of limited interest for tourists, as no wildlife exists
which is comparable to that in East and Southern Africa. However, The
Gambia has a good reputation among bird watchers, and is ranked as
an attractive destination in Africa.
There are a number of National Parks and Forest Reserves spread
over the country, but with the exception of the reserves in Abuko and
Bijilo, they are not opened up for tourism. Some are in a poor condition
in terms of access, trail system, skills and equipment of personnel and
visitor facilities.
Historical and Cultural Attractions
There are a number of historical attractions of interest for tourists in
The Gambia, ranging from stone circles to remains of the colonial times
along the River Gambia (e.g. Albreda; Fort Bullen; James Island;
Georgetown) to the British period (Banjul town). Most of them are
included in the traditional excursion itineraries, but access, physical
conditions and presentation leave much room for improvement.
All major hotels provide cultural entertainment in terms of music and
dances, but often adjusted to Western tastes. Excursions to villages
mostly include similar performances. But there are more aspects of
cultural life in The Gambia which are of interest for tourists, e.g. local
festivals, daily-life and spiritual ceremonies, performing and creative
arts. In many cases, the local population is not aware that tourists

42
would like to experience these expressions of local culture, while on the
other hand tourists are not aware of their existence.
Accommodation Facilities
There are as of 2005 approximately 7,000 beds in The Gambia in
different types of accommodation (hotels, guesthouses, self-catering
apartments) and different quality standards. Prior to the opening of the
Sheraton, the five largest hotels accounted for some 25% of the overall
capacity.
Although there is a wide range in terms of quality, the value-for-money
is generally regarded as good by present visitors. A number of hotels
have been refurbished (e.g. Kairaba, Sunbeach), expanded (Bijilo
Beach) or opened (Ocean Bay). Several new properties including the
Sheraton were under construction in 2006, as indicated in Table 7.1.
Figure 7.1 – Mix of Tourist Accommodation in The Gambia

5* 4* 3* 2* 1* S/C Rooms Lodges Other

Source: GTA/consultants’ research. Data relates to 2005.

Table 7.1: Resort Accommodation under construction, 2006
Hotel Approx no.
of rooms
Kharaffi & Sons/Sheraton 196
Liptis Hotel 40
Jerma Hotel 40
Wilmont Hotel 60
Concorde Suites 60
West African Resort & Dunes Casino 12
Zamzam Hotel 48
Cape Beach Resort 25
Luigi’s/Kotu Apartments 21
Total 502
Source: GTA report on Anticipated Increase in Bed Capacity in the Tourism
Development Authority, 2006; Gambia Tours. Further information is given
in Technical Report no 6, Product Development.

43
With the exception of a few lodges in the interior (e.g. Sindola,
Tendaba), the majority of the accommodation facilities are
concentrated in the Banjul/Serrekunda area and operate with a strong
focus on beach tourism. Depending on size and category, the hotels
offer leisure facilities, e.g. pool, garden, sport and entertainment
facilities.
Most of the hotels operate a restaurant on their premises, but there is a
range of restaurants in the tourist areas, mainly in and around the
Senegambia strip. They offer a variety of cuisines, e.g. Gambian,
international, Indian, Lebanese, Chinese and Thai.
Service levels are generally satisfactory, and deficiencies in
professional skills are compensated by the staff's friendliness and a
helpful attitude. However, the need for training at all levels and in all
categories is apparent.
Because of the predominant package tourism hotels heavily depend on
European tour operators leaving them with limited bargaining power.
As room rates did not change over recent years, profit margins are
shrinking as operational costs, e.g. electricity, are increasing.
There are intentions to develop eco-tourism facilities, preferably in the
interior and with community involvement. The lodge in Tumana-Tenda
is already in operation. However, examples in Kiang West show that a
careful approach has to be applied, in order to avoid too high
expectations that are not met. Best practice from Southern Africa
proves that joint ventures with a private sector partner seem to be the
most successful ways of involving communities in the tourism business.

ACCOMMODATION: A PERIOD OF CONSOLIDATION

The provision of appropriate forms of accommodation is fundamental to the
implementation of the Plan. As of 2006, accommodation quality is decidedly
mixed, a reflection of the low revenues per room dictated by low average
achieved room rates and a high degree of seasonality, limiting the amount of
funding available for refurbishment. In 2006/7 it is anticipated that 500 new
rooms will come on stream to add to the 3,000 already available (although
only some 1,300 of these are suitable for use by foreign tour operators). For
the Vision to be realised minimum quality standards need to be enforced, and
coherent and transparent planning controls introduced (as described in
Technical Report No 7). For this reason, a period of consolidation of three to
five years will be adopted. During this period, the Department of State for
Tourism and Culture will encourage tourism operators to renovate\
upgrade\rehabilitate their facilities and to bring them up to international
standard. The consolidation period will allow Cabinet to digest and give
approval and directives in respect of the technical report on the tourism
development area to ensure proper planned development is in force as
recommended in this Plan .To support the consolidation programme, a
temporary ban on the allocation of land should be enforced, and
consideration given to only unique projects. Consideration should also be
given to an extension of the incentive regime to better cover refurbishment
(as identified in Technical Report No 6, Product Development.

44
 Sports, Excursions, Entertainment
Most of the hotels offer sport facilities and help to organise their use
(e.g. sport fishing, sailing, wind surfing). It appears that the opening-up
of new opportunities together with better organisation, presentation and
marketing among tourists could lead to serious improvements of the
product range.
As most of the tourists from Europe travel on a package, the relevant
tour operators in cooperation with the local ground operators offer a
range of excursions, which evidently has not changed over the last two
decades. This is due to the small number of attractions available, the
tourists' interest confined to beach holidays and limited innovative ideas
of the ground operators.
The larger hotels offer evening entertainment, and there are a number
of discos which are frequented by tourists. Bars operate in the tourist
areas, sometimes without formal licensing.
7.2 Strategic Focus

The Gambia should focus future tourism development on its core

tourism comparative advantage in providing a combination of
convenient winter sun / beach / pool product that offers value for
money. This should be linked with taking advantage of the
opportunities for product diversification that take advantage of the
special characteristics of The Gambia.
Product development has to be linked with vigorous marketing and
promotion to encourage:
(i) tour operators to return who have wholly or partially dropped The
Gambia, both in the UK and in Germany;
(ii) new tour operators to feature The Gambia;
(iii) the gradual growth of independent travel and of direct booking
and the re-introduction of scheduled services notably from the
UK; and
(iv) development of MICE business, focusing initially on
neighbouring West African countries, extending further afield
once flight frequencies rise.
Resources should be concentrated on further developing those core
value elements of the Gambian tourism product which can be
managed, namely.
• Beach
• Sun-bathing facilities
• Bathing – pool, ocean, river
• Fresh air
• Walking / jogging
• Cycling
• Lack of stress
• Relaxation
• Culture and history

45
 • Informal entertainment
• Food / drink
• Comfort
• Beauty
• Luxury

BUT none of these can be achieved and sustained without

implementation of reliable assured quality of:
• Health / hygiene
• Safety
• Security

Only 30% of tourists take a formal 1 day excursion and only 5% venture
into the interior. The low level of other activities and the short distance
travelled is partly due to the lack of significant visitor attractions, natural
or man-made and poor roads to the interior, but very largely because
tourists who come as of 2005/6 specifically do so to relax and do very
little. For developments up-country, and based on the distinct culture
and heritage of The Gambia, new market segments have to be
developed. These are more likely to be independent travelers,
dependent on access via scheduled airline services.
As of 2005/6, tourists venture little outside their hotels. Mainly this is
due to a lack of informal “entertainment” opportunities, such as
shopping. This pattern is also due to the poor layout of tourism
development in small isolated clusters along the coast and partly to the
nuisance and perceived threat created by “bumsterism”. Methods of
dealing with both are recommended.
Major development will require major long-term commitment and
investment by public and private sectors. But The Gambia lacks the
financial resources of principal competitors such as Egypt, Canaries,
Caribbean and Thailand. So, to maximise the effectiveness of the very
limited people and financial resources allocated to the development of
tourism by The Gambia, and by supporting donor organisations, The
Gambia should be focused entirely on selected projects critical to the
achievement of the TDMP. It is recommended that non-critical projects,
however apparently worthy, should be avoided to conserve resources.
7.3 Redevelopment of Main Resort Area

Clean-up
Reducing very high levels of displeasure from “bumsterism” is the first
major immediate priority. Drastically reducing complaints of “dumping of
rubbish” and compliance with food handling hygiene and other health
related quality issues are the next most critical priorities of immediate
product development.

46
Beaches
Quality of Beaches and the ocean water are such an important part of
the product that it is recommended that improvements to achieve the
international “Blue Flag Beach” award are considered.

Accommodation

Renovation and New build

Many existing hotels need refurbishment and a higher level of
continuing maintenance to meet international competitive standards.
New developments will require a strategic shift towards more large
integrated resort hotel units which are more economic to market and in
which a wider range of services can be provided on the spot.

Tariffs
The Gambia took a policy decision to exclude the offer of all-inclusive
tariffs by hotels. This was to encourage tourists to spend money
outside hotels and to broaden the economic benefit of visitor
expenditure. The difficulty with this policy as tourism has since
developed is twofold:

z A number of hotels in The Gambia are effectively already all-

inclusive, since customers are on full board packages and where
there are few restaurant venues for them to patronise outside
the hotel. Package tour customers at the Corinthia Atlantic Hotel
are one example;
z By denying all-inclusive product to be offered in The Gambia, the
country is excluding itself from a growing component of the
tourism market. This is at a time where destinations offering a
more up-market product, such as Mauritius, have a considerable
number of hotels that have switched to offering all-inclusive
pricing. It is a particular constraint as far as re-entering the
German market is concerned.

Thus The Gambia is missing out against other competitive destinations

by failing to offer all-inclusive tariffs. In order to increase volumes, and
thus encourage the expansion of air access – which in turn allows
greater numbers of independent travellers – consideration should be
given to allowing hotels to offer all-inclusive tariffs at their own
commercial discretion. This would require a change in policy.

Services
The Gambia is missing out against other competitive destinations by
failing to offer full “spa”, wellness, beauty and other premium services
within resort hotels.

Licensing
Hotels are subject to undercutting by unlicensed and unqualified
competition which could be controlled by stricter license enforcement.

47
 Ambient Environment

“Promenades”
Safe and attractive walkways of every type [pavements, plazas,
piazzas, squares, paseos, pathways, boardwalks, piers and
promenades] are totally missing in the product offering. Since these
should be used in the evening lighting is an essential component. Lack
of these severely restricts informal activities.

Parks and Gardens

Public parks and gardens as a place for relaxation are also totally
missing in the product offering. It is recommended that these be
introduced as part of the soft re-landscaping of the tourism area. Bijilo
Forest should be included in this concept and revenue opportunities
from parks and gardens developed.

Abuko National Park

As the National Park located closest to the tourists and a former
popular tourist attraction Abuko should be considered for major
redevelopment.

7.4 Development of New Resort Areas

Physically, there is room for major potential growth opportunities for

sun / beach /pool tourism in large resort / hotel development in The
Gambia within the existing developed TDA.

Land in the area from Brufut to Kartong offers further potential to easily
more than double the current tourism capacity.

Part of that new southern coastal area and the whole of the Western
River south bank area offer potential between them for attractive but
limited volume Beach and Mangrove based “eco” lodge development.
These would be focused on alternative ways of delivering sun / beach
/pool products rather than alternatives to sun / beach /pool.
7.5 Bird-watching and Fishing

Bird-watching and fishing tour operators are both hesitant to invest

heavily in further market development when they lose repeat business
to unqualified local suppliers they see as “pirates” taking away
customers they have expensively created. Insistence on quality
standards enforced by licensing could allow substantial growth in these
attractive market sectors which complement the sun /beach /pool
product.
7.6 Excursions and entertainment

The Gambia is well provided with experienced local ground tour

operators well equipped with modern air conditioned transportation and

48
 vehicles suitable for off-road work. They provide a wide range of tours
and excursions given the limited tourism assets within the country.

Investment by legitimate investors in these vital engines of tourism is

often held back because of the activities of unlicensed, often
unqualified, uninsured, unsafe and poor quality competition from
bumsters, taxi-drivers and pirogues. Such activities ought to be
controlled by stricter license enforcement.
7.7 Management of Product Development

Planning control
Planning issues within the TDA are complex. Land ownership and legal
rights of communities need to be established, clarified and reconciled
as many local people who have an interest in land, particularly in the
south of the TDA, are not aware of recent tourism development
initiatives and are still continuing to build on and sell ‘their’ land for
development. This has serious implications not only for individuals but
also for land use planning and the future tourism potential of the area.
There is a lack of coordination and control by different agencies – GTA;
Department of Physical Planning and Housing; and Lands Department
and Local Government. Currently, responsibilities of managing the TDA
are scattered. For example the demarcation and delineation of the TDA
boundaries is not clear between GTA and Local Government.
Secondly, areas under protection such as green belts, forest parks,
woodlands and fishing areas are still under the responsibility of the
various institutions with different agendas and programmes for the
TDA.
Outside the TDA, lack of coordination still prevails with both the GTA
and Physical Planning mandated by law to supervise and monitor
tourism development. The agencies carry out these functions
independent of other technical agencies such as the National
Environmental Agency, GAMTEL and NAWEC.
All the above contributes to an over complicated tourism development
planning process. Many developers and investors therefore follow an
‘informal’ process, purchasing land from individuals and customary
landowners and then seek approval through the various Government
agencies and GTA. Consequently, the process is not transparent and
efficient and is often circumvented resulting in ad hoc development.
Thus, although good planning and environmental legislation is in place,
implementation and forward planning is lacking. This arises not only
from lack of clarity of the system, but perhaps more significantly from
managerial and human resource weaknesses, inadequate policy
articulation, poor law/regulation enforcement and skill shortages in key
areas. These all need urgent attention.
Enforceable planning and environmental controls must be
implemented, to not only protect the environment, but also to protect
the investments made by Government and developers, as well as

49
international tourism marketing investments made by the GTA and
overseas marketing partners.
The entire tourism industry must be attuned to development and
planning procedures. Future tourism growth will put additional
pressures on the planning process. These pressures will be
compounded by:
♦ further expansion of the tourism sector;
♦ higher quality development sited along the coast and around
environmentally sensitive areas;
♦ growing environmental awareness;
♦ increased local government responsibility; and
♦ greater community participation in planning.
In tomorrow’s Gambia, there will be a need for more flexibility in
planning, to adapt to new circumstances quickly and to build on the
opportunities offered by an increasingly global economy. The planning
system will need to be open and transparent. There is a need for
simplification, for reducing the red tape involved in processing much-
needed development proposals and for providing clear and consistent
planning guidance to both Government agencies and the private
sector.
Licensing control
Licensing standards and controls need to be developed and enforced
for all tourism accommodation, ground tour operations, guiding,
restaurants and bars.

These standards and controls should be directed at ensuring minimum

standards of operation are achieved. The GTA should be empowered
to enforce specified minimum standards and to give establishments a
time limit by which deficiencies must be rectified. Should this not be
done, the GTA should have the powers to close an establishment
temporarily or permanently. These processes will need to be
transparent, so that no question of corruption is raised.

Hygiene
As of 2005, tourism legislation does not cover hygiene. This makes it
extremely difficult for the GTA to inspect, properly monitor, supervise
tourist or close down establishments and ensure that they meet and
maintain the standards required. They have been unable, therefore, to
serve notices on establishments that they believe ought not to be
operating, for health or safety reasons.
There is a Public Health Act Cap 40:03 in force, which allows the
Director of Medical Services or Health Officers to enter into any
premises and to inspect such premises to ensure compliance with the
Act. This Act requires businesses to operate only after having obtained
a valid Health Certificate, and permits the Director to close non
compliant businesses or business where sanitary conditions need to be

50
restored and until such restoration. The Regulations that operate by
virtue of this Act are old, and do not at all meet present needs. Some
were first passed as long ago as 1923.
The GTA recognises that the Health Authorities need to be called in
where there is a need, because they do not have a power of inspection.
They do not always know about the hygiene problems in time.
Additionally, the Health Authorities like many Government Departments
are cash strapped and have neither the manpower nor the equipment
to properly monitor the hotels etc., nor can they properly appreciate the
type of standards the GTA wishes to put in place.
In practice, foreign tour operators have carried out inspections prior to
signing contracts, in order to ensure compliance with European Union
Package Tour Directives or Health and Safety laws applicable in the
countries from which their tourists come.
It is recognised that this is an unsatisfactory state of affairs, and that
the GTA Act should be amended to ensure that the GTA have the
power to carry out periodic inspections to ensure compliance with
health, safety, pollution, noise levels, after licenses have been issued,
and whether they receive complaints or not. This will better ensure
standards of cleanliness and safety within the sector.
GTA demands, as part of its licensing application process, a certificate
from the Fire Department certifying that the establishment to be
licensed meets Fire regulations. It also asks for an Electricity
Certificate, and evidence of First Aid training for staff. Depending on
the particular license applied for, they also require a staff screening
certificate and Fresh Food Certificate. They conduct an inspection prior
to the issue of the Licence.
The Quality Control and Licensing Unit of the GTA has set out a list of
the various requirements for each of the licences which it issues. They
have tried to ensure, that they are the last authority the applicant needs
to come to. This is because the business registration, social security,
income tax, expatriate quota, Health, Fire, Electricity and Police
Authorities have to be visited first and only after producing evidence of
clearance from these Authorities, will GTA if it is satisfied issue its
licence.
It has nevertheless been possible for operators in the industry to
operate without any proper licensing despite the requirements of the
GTA Act.
It is vital that these issues are resolved. Adequate standards of
hygiene are critical to the tourism product and The Gambia is falling
short in relation to its competition. The GTA must have the powers to
ensure minimum standards are met, to close establishments when
appropriate and to be transparent in its work to this end. This will need
training of the relevant personnel.

51
Accommodation classification
Proposals have been made for the classification of accommodation in
The Gambia. This is distinct from licensing. Classification schemes
can be beneficial in two ways:

z Informing the consumer;

z Encouraging accommodation providers to improve product
quality in order to achieve a specific classification level.

Challenges that arise can be:

z The degree to which the classification system is dependent on

quantitative physical measures and the extent to which quality of
operation and service are reflected in the classification;
z The need for the system to be kept up to date, with a trained
inspection force that is objective and which is not subject to
financial inducement in order to award a particular level of
classification;
z Confusion on the part of the consumer because the chosen
classification system does not meet perceived international
norms.

The benefits attached to accommodation classification are unlikely to

apply in The Gambia because:

z Accommodation is already classified by foreign tour operators,

who apply the only internationally comparable accommodation
classification systems;
z Pressure on prices as applied by tour operators constrains
product improvement irrespective of a classification system. A
classification system would result in new costs being imposed on
the industry.

A number of stakeholders in the hotel industry believe that a

classification system will ensure different standards which in turn will
create different price levels and give them a better bargaining power.
Given the present dominant position of tour operators in the industry
this is likely to prove an illusion. Rather the introduction of a
classification system would result in the mis-allocation of scarce human
resources.

Statistical monitoring
Planning of tourism for The Gambia is severely handicapped by lack of
accurate information on performance of accommodation providers.
Development of a statistical monitoring system which can be
crosschecked with arrivals data is recommended.

Projects
The way forward is indicated in the Ten Year Action Plan, described in
Section 11.

52
7.8 Cultural Tourism Development

Culture, simply stated is the way of life of a people. This is depicted by

how one is housed, fed, educated and entertained. Technical Report
No 12, Cultural Tourism, examined how tourism could be situated in the
culture of the people, putting the indigenous people at the centre of all
development activity and enriching their lives.
However, most tourists are still attracted by the traditional marketing of
the sun, sand and sea. Hence, an automatic shift into cultural tourism is
unlikely. Most tourists who visit The Gambia as of 2005/6 like to stay in
five, four or three star hotels, travel with modern transportation, eat and
drink their regular food and beverage. They would simply like to have a
day excursion to a historical, heritage or spiritual site and then retire to
their hotels to live as near to home as possible.
At the same time, The Gambia’s unique selling point is its people and
its culture – at the core of the Responsible Tourism policy, marketing
strategy and product offer. Given the lack of engagement from the
traditional industry, and indeed government in the past, the offering in
The Gambia is remarkably rich. There is considerable potential for
further development of the cultural heritage (based on living culture)
product, which is possible in The Gambia in a way that it is not the case
in many of the competitor destinations
Recommendations are as follows:
z The Gambia should declare and mark 2006-2015 as heritage
decade.
z The first 5 year period should be utilised to locate Gambia’s
heritage sites as well as its historical, spiritual and camping
sites. The mapping of these sites should be followed by a
systematic plan for product development and the preparation of
a visitor’s trail by matching camping sites to sites for excursions.
There is also the need to develop the quality of existing camps
as well as the cuisines, the creative and performing art products
etc.
z The development of the camping and heritage sites and the
various products linked to them should be prioritised and
implemented according to an annual programme.
z The GTA working with the NCAC should strengthen its divisional
headquarters (by appointing a tourism and culture desk officer)
within the local councils and shall map out and develop heritage
sites and centre for the integrated development and marketing of
the creative and performing arts. Heritage Development
Committees shall be established at the village and divisional
level to identify all the relevant sites for the development of the
cultural attractions of the area and foster the creation of open air
museums to complement those sites.

53
 z The GTA in collaboration with “Gambia is Good”, NANA,
ASSET, the Hotel School and the Home Economics Association
shall organise a Gambia cuisine day in order to prepare the
model Gambian cuisine for the travel and tourism trade. Tourism
stakeholders shall be invited to pass judgment on the various
dishes. A cookbook shall be prepared to elaborate on the
standard menu. Training shall be organized to prepare all chefs
to integrate the menu in their own areas.
z The development of the sites shall take a holistic approach,
entailing the conservation of structures, the shaping and
mapping of trails to the sites, the building of ideal resorts and
infrastructure, the development of creative and performing arts,
the establishment of the appropriate types of museums and the
training of animators that would give authenticity, purpose and
value to the sites. The training of cultural guides as oral
historians, interpreters and animators and ensuring the linkage
of their animation with relevant cultural products in the creative
and performing arts can enhance the attractions of cultural
tourism.
z All festivals and types of ceremonies should be identified and
documented. Their nature and characteristics should be mapped
out in brochures to be distributed in tourism information centres
established by GTA. Guides to places where ceremonies are
taking place can be based in the information centres to
accompany visitors interested in witnessing such ceremonies
and an overall strategy should be developed on how to integrate
cultural tourism in the marketing strategies of GTA and the tour
operators.
z Sites for integrated development of the products of creative and
performing arts shall be identified and their annual inauguration
scheduled according to plan. This will go hand in hand with the
registration of the skilled persons in the various performing and
creative arts and the promotion of apprenticeship to ensure
sustainability of knowledge and skills.
z At the end of the heritage decade The Gambia should have
developed historical, heritage, spiritual and camping sites, with
the required animators or guides, interconnected trails, open air
or other museums and other suitable tourism infrastructures to
make the country an interesting place to visit. One envisages a
time when a Gambian in the urban area would invest in a fleet of
cars, a motel and provide all the products of performing and
creative arts that would enable a couple to come to perform their
marital rites in The Gambia or enjoy a honeymoon.
7.9 Tourism and the National Parks

During the period 1972 to 1988 the forest cover of The Gambia
declined from some 30% of total land area to just 6%. Much of the

54
 remaining natural heritage is protected in national parks and reserves
that cover around 4% of the national land area. All of them are home
to a wide range of animal and plant life that is of potential interest to
tourists. Moreover, each contains a distinct assemblage of plant,
animal and bird species and therefore presents a separate attraction to
the visitor
The table below summarises some of the features that determine the
tourism potential of the parks and three of the forest reserves.
National Park Area (ha) Type Travel Tourist Facilities
Time *)
Abuko Nature 105 Forest 0.5 Visitor centre, toilet, trails, guides,
Reserve
Kiang West National 11,000 Forest 3.0 Guides, trails, accommodation
Park (Tendaba)
Nuimi National Park 4,940 Coastal 2.0 None
wetland
Tanji River Bird 612 Coastal 0.5 None
Reserve wetland
River Gambia 570 Island 6.0 None (high-end eco-tourism facilities
National Park Forest under construction in nearby
community forest)
Baobolon Wetland 22,000 River 6.0 None
Reserve Flood
Plain
Tanji Wetland 6,000 Coastal 0.5 None
Complex Wetland
Forest Reserve

Tumani Tenda 140 Forest & 1.0 Visitor centre, toilet, trails, guides,
Community Forest farmland accommodation
Pirang Forest 64 Forest 1.0 Under construction
Development

Bijilo Forest Park 50 Coastal 0.0 Guides, trails

Forest
*) hrs from Hotel area

Recommendations
Development of the national parks for tourism should be based on a
realistic assessment of their attractiveness and accessibility. The
strategy for developing nature-based tourism should be to offer short
tours that serve as supplementary activities for tourists whose primary
interest lies elsewhere, as well as in catering for birdwatchers and other
specialist interests. This implies planning for day-trippers and short-
term visitors. Local communities need to be involved and to gain from
National Park development i.e. guides, community levy, park rangers,
research, school trips and participation in how it is managed etc.
Options are shown in the table on page 57.
Actions to be developed as part of the Tourism Development Master
Plan (TDMP) implementation should include the following:
Selection and Development of Priority Sites:

55
Development should be phased both to make best use of limited
capital and to test the effectiveness of various models for achieving
both nature protection and income generation. Priority sites should be
chosen based on criteria such as:

z Accessibility from the Tourism Development Area (TDA)

z Attractiveness of the site
z Extent of community engagement
z Extent to which the necessary management and facilities are
already in place

Physical Improvements:
A minimum of basic infrastructure and services should be provided at
priority sites including:

z Paths and signed trails through the park

z Toilet facilities
z Opportunities to purchase refreshments
z Interpretative material identifying the flora and fauna and
providing some context.

Availability of well-trained guides, photo-hides, places to sit and rest,

transport around the larger parks, camp sites and lodge
accommodation are other facilities that could be valuable depending
on the site.

Financing Arrangements:
Priority parks should be allowed to become self-financing. Entry fees
for the parks should be revised and park management allowed to
retain the additional funds for development. A basic entry fee of D150
(around US$ 5) would be reasonable, with an option to contributing
more through a membership scheme.

Clustering and Theming:

Sites should be linked and themes developed that are likely to interest
potential visitors. Themes might be based around bird life, for
example, or habitat types (coastal – riverine – forest).

Development of Park Management Capacity:

In the longer term the organisation and institutional arrangements for
managing the national parks need to be revised. Urgent needs for the
short term include:

z Research to assess the wildlife stocks of parks

z Development of interpretative and guidance materials for the
parks
z Training of a cadre of officers to advise and train tourism
service providers.

Hunting:
Assessment of the sustainability of hunting and development of a
licensing scheme that prevents poaching and optimises revenue for
The Gambia.

56

INCOME OPTION
Park Entrance Fees
Community Controlled Guiding
State controlled guiding
Private Businesses
Visitor Centre selling souvenirs, literature
for park and nature trails, children’s
treasure hunts, bird trails etc
Café (s) for Park visitors
Camping /Lodge Fees
INCOME GENERATION OPTIONS AT NATIONAL PARKS
OPERATION IMPACTS/ISSUES
State controlled, community controlled, Pricing, fees paid by visitors, percentages of distribution need to be
joint partnerships addressed. Cost and Benefit analysis needed
Externally managed by the community. Distribution of funds and possibilities for conflict within community.
Guides trained from using income Community access/ownership to national park resources and land?
generated from percentage of park Guiding should coincide with eco tourism policy. Training required in
entrance fees which go into “community languages, natural habitats, bio-diversity, visitor management.
pot” Possibilities of guiding fees separated from gate takings to encourage
State support through technical individual initiatives and avoid conflicts
assistance
State control. Ease of access to training Possibilities of conflict with community, low wages. Training required
and funds. Communities provide the as above
guides.
Indigenous and International tour Support local businesses and local economy in area
operators using local guides, local shops
and local businesses in the park vicinity.
Making use of local knowledge of area or
park. Developing boat trips, cycle hire,
Overnight hiring of bird hides, fishing
permits Offering concessions
Local staff opportunities Used to educate and inform visitors. Opportunities for participation
with rural development associations
Opportunity to use local resources and Developing linkages
linkages to local economy sourcing
supplies and using local staff. Co-
operatives or collectives
Community owned lodges or state owned Length of stay by visitors and impacts to surrounding area. Disposal of
lodges: Opportunities for joint partnerships waste by tourists and users. Basic infrastructure required. Costs of
between public and private sector. maintaining sites need to be addressed. Access to parks needs to be
Co-operatives or collectives addressed, signs.
57
7.10 The River and Tourism

This subsection deals solely with the development concept of River

Gambia cruises along the length of the river between Banjul and
Basse. This cruise takes several days and so requires overnight
accommodation.
Our research concludes that there are marketable opportunities for the
development of such a product. It is recommended that for both quality
and operational reasons that overnight accommodation should be on
board the cruise ship/boat rather than in land-based lodges and that all
voyages should start and finish in Banjul. (Use of land-based lodges
may be possible as the cruise product develops and the quality and
consistency of lodges improves.)
Round trip river cruises Banjul / Georgetown / Banjul could then be
offered as 7 night packages complete with air fare, or as part of a 14
night package. Shorter 3/ 4 night packages could be sold as one-way
up, or down river, either as part of 7 nights with airfare, or as locally
sold excursions with the opposite journey by road.
Introduction of a first ship/boat would require major private sector initial
investment of around 750,000 Euro and experience of river-cruise
marketing and operation. Success would also require strong support
from international and local ground tour operators.
Such cruises could provide significant opportunities for community
involvement, with little community capital investment being required.
Little or no infrastructure cost is required.
7.11 All-inclusive Packages

The all-inclusive package that was introduced into The Gambia faced
resistance from many of the stakeholders. Concerns focused on the
question of leakages, loss of government taxes, the dumping of prices
and the inability of The Gambia to attract other market segments once
it is declared an all inclusive destination. The extremely unfortunate
experience of The Gambia - which lost the German market as a
consequence of the activities of FTI including in relation to all-inclusives
- has exacerbated the position.
A contrary argument, as noted in Section 7.3, is that a number of
properties – by offering conventional full board packages – are already
effectively all-inclusive resorts. A further concern is that by excluding
all-inclusive properties, The Gambia is excluding itself from a
substantial and growing market segment, a segment on which revival of
the German market in particular is dependent. Competing destinations,
even more up-market ones, have resorts that have adopted the all-
inclusive format. The advantages and disadvantages of all-inclusives
are discussed further in Annex 2.

58
 Government is conscious that the possibilities of its intervening in the
tourism industry are limited by its encouragement of a liberal economy
and its possible membership to the General Agreement on Trade and
Services (GATS). Under GATS terms The Gambia would commit itself
to follow regulations which are meant to ensure a transparent and anti
discriminatory ‘level playing field’ in the service sector.
A potential response is for the TDA to be segmented and for an all-
inclusive product portfolio to be developed; isolated from present
developments.
It is recommended that Government institutes a review of the policy in
relation to all-inclusives resorts, based on case studies from other
countries where all-inclusives have been adopted. Aligned with this will
need to be human resource development, particularly in the areas of
health and safety. This can be done within the human resource
development framework contained in this Plan.
7.12 Access to Finance and the need for incentives

What little investment has taken place in the tourism sector in recent
years has been financed largely from internal sources without the need
to borrow from the financial institutions at high rates of interest.
However, in order to meet tourism expansion targets there will be a
need for greatly increased investment in a range of facilities, attractions
and services, and access to finance on reasonable terms could be an
important constraint for some potential investors.
For the small investor (including communities), the best route for
accessing finance is via credit unions, village savings banks and other
micro-finance institutions rather than through the commercial banking
sector.
The Gambia Investment Promotion and Free Zone Agency (GIPFZA)
should identify suitable tourism-related projects and prepare project
profiles for presentation to potential investors as part of a concerted
promotional plan. Otherwise, there is a danger that the Tourism
Development Master plan will not be implemented.
Analysis of the economics of the larger properties indicates that a large
hotel, say 150 rooms plus, with a substantial range of facilities, is not
financially viable for the developer. This is even though the site is made
available for a minimal amount of cash for the lease. (This is described
in Technical Report No 6, Product Development.) Viability is improved
if the developer can operate a mixed use site, with large hotel, some
residential development and indeed some commercial development.
So the main instrument for encouraging such investment is for GTA to
identify sites which will allow multiple use (a combination of hotels,
villas, residential and commercial) so increasing the rates of return on
the overall investment.

59
At the same time the GTA will embark upon a major programme of
recovering sites where development has not been honoured according
to the leases. In this way GTA can bring the supply of sites back under
control, again improving the investment returns to large scale investors.
It is recognised that there are considerable difficulties in both the site
allocation process in the TDA and the legal processes in getting back
the site from defaulting leaseholders (See Technical Report No 15,
Tourism Related Legislation). However, it is absolutely essential that
The Gambia go ahead and do this for a range of reasons, including:
• It is essential to try to sensibly control the supply of sites in the TDA
(which are provided virtually free, in itself a large incentive for a
developer) such that supply and demand are kept in a sensible
balance. At present the supply of too many sites to too many
developers, especially allocating sites to defaulting developers,
means that the supply exceeds the demand and puts not only
individual investments in jeopardy but indeed the whole Gambian
tourism industry in jeopardy;
• Giving away too many sites to too many developers takes away the
major incentive within the control of the Government, namely the
site availability. It makes the incentive almost worthless and
therefore makes the Government almost impotent in its negotiations
with developers; and
• The proliferation of non-performing leases, actually spoils the
beauty of the coastline, reduces the enjoyment of tourists, thereby
damaging the whole of the Gambian tourism industry.
The non-performing leases and sites have to be recovered by the GTA.
The general thrust of this strategy is to replace ‘speculators’, of which
there are many, with genuine and capable investors who can bring both
capital and expertise to The Gambia.

60
8. OTHER SHORT TERM IMPLEMENTATION MEASURES

8.1 Introduction

This section outlines other short-term measures that should be

undertaken to complement the measures considered under air access,
marketing and product development. These measures concern: -
• Infrastructure, essential for the tourism destination maintaining
competitiveness;
• Environmental Management, essential to The Gambia maintaining
its appeal;
• Social Aspects, in particular ‘bumsters’ – the visitor surveys have
shown that something has to be done about this issue;
• Linkages, notably with Agriculture;
• Human resources - a key opportunity with the friendly, intelligent
and interesting Gambian people – the visitor surveys highlighted the
‘product plus’ that exists here, an interesting contradiction with the
‘bumster’ issue.
8.2 Infrastructure

The main tourism area is adjacent to the Greater Banjul Area, which
now contains around 50% of The Gambia’s population. Therefore,
tourist infrastructure demands, even if they were to substantially
increase, are still marginal compared to the overall resource demands
of this rapidly growing urban area. The infrastructure challenge that the
Government faces is to manage this urban growth while maintaining an
environment suitable for tourism.
The major challenges are electricity generation and, to a much lesser
extent, waste management. Water resources, electricity transmission,
roads and telecommunications are all adequate for an expanded
tourism sector in the Greater Banjul Area.
The main issue with inland tourism is providing reasonably quick and
comfortable access for tourists. The ongoing roads programme will
assist in resolving this issue, particularly along the South Bank of the
River Gambia.
The lack of electricity generation has impacted adversely on the
tourism sector, as well as on all other sectors of The Gambia’s
economy. In the longer-term it is essential that NAWEC (or whoever will
be responsible) should be able to supply electricity reliably and much
more efficiently using the huge economies of scale in generating plant.
It is essential that electricity supply becomes both reliable and
affordable.

61
Table 8.1 - Tourism Related Infrastructure – Sector Summary
Sector Proposals
Electricity • Privatisation proposed but
needs legislation as NAWEC
currently only authority to
retail electricity. Draft
Electricity bill under
preparation (2004).
• New power station at
Brikama proposed in future.
Water Supply • Ring main to supply TDA
from Sanyang to Fajara; also
smaller ring from Kotu.
• 25-year Water and Sanitation
Master Plan under
preparation by NAWEC to
identify and prioritise
projects.
Wastewater • Water and Sanitation Master
(Sanitation) Plan will develop overall
proposals.
Solid Waste • Temporary upgrading of Mile
2 and Bakoteh sites to
landfill while new sanitary
landfill is developed near
Brikama. Eventual closure
of Mile 2 and Bakoteh.
• Improved recycling and
composting.
Roads and • Upgrading of main South
Transporta- Bank road.
tion
Telecommu- • Planned countrywide
nications expansion for landlines.
Source: Technical Report no 15, Tourism Related Infrastructure
Recommendations
• Hotels to continue to provide own
power.
• Investigate potential Independent
Power Plant for TDA power.
• Reduce demand through savings
and solar power.
• Reduce transmission losses and
theft.
• Prevent oil spills at Kotu Power
Plant.
• Hotels need to continue to
provide own supply.
• Reduce demand as part of Green
Hotel Program.
• Investigate (pilot) the use of
HDPE pipe.
• Rehabilitate Kotu wastewater
treatment plant and extend to
other areas.
• Possible plant operation by
private sector.
• Include stormwater drainage with
sewerage planning in Serrekunda
• Need to protect beach erosion
from stormwater.
• Waste minimisation programme
for hotels.
• Investigate potential for hotels to
keep beach clean.
• Access road between Bijilo and
Brufut required.
• Use concrete roads in coastal
areas prone to flooding.
• Improve international lines,
particularly for internet access.
62
 The main tourism programmes identified for short-term measures are:
• Kotu Stream Protection Programme which aims to prevent pollution
in Kotu stream and to the sea. This comprises:
o Clean-up and closure of Bakoteh solid waste dump. This is
already designed and will be assisted through World Bank
funding.
o Rehabilitation of Kotu Wastewater treatment Plant (WWTP),
possibly include this as a priority project under the Water Supply
and Sanitation Master Plan being prepared by NAWEC.
o Prevention of oil spills from Kotu Power Plant. A feasibility study
is required to determine the optimal physical and operational
interventions and costs.
• A Green Hotel Programme to minimise tourism demands on
resources and protect the tourism environment.
• Other tourism infrastructure which will also benefit the local
population, such as provision of back-up generators at NAWEC’s
borewells and the construction of additional water storage tank at
Kotu.
8.3 Environment

Environmental Impacts of the Tourism Development Master Plan

Potential impacts depend on the location and type of development. At
present most of the tourism accommodation, estimated to reach around
10,000 beds in the next five years, is located within the existing
Tourism Development Area (TDA). Future development will most likely
build on the existing TDA with seafront and forest-based activities and
recreational areas with additional accommodation in the form of resort
hotels, villas, bungalows and apartments. It will also put emphasis on
developing nature, heritage and community based tourism and further
TDAs.
The key environmental issues arising from the Tourism Master Plan,
i.e. those that are demands of some kind of policy response or
investment in mitigation, include the following:
• Tourist use of resources and services
• Impact of development of hotels and tourist accommodation
• Impact of tourism infrastructure development
• Quality of the beach and sea
• Quality of natural resources
• Environmental quality of other potential tourist sites
The challenge is to maintain The Gambia’s tourism potential by
preserving and restoring key natural resources to as pristine a

63
condition as possible. The opportunities lie in using tourism to leverage
funds for environmental investment and management, not just for the
industry, but for improved living conditions throughout the country.
The basic legal and institutional instruments for effective environmental
management are mostly in place. The same can be said of the laws
and institutions that control forests and wildlife habitats. The need for
action arises mainly from the inability of concerned institutions to carry
out their assigned functions. The recommendations that follow address
these areas.
Environmental Management of the Sector
Action should be taken to establish an environmental management
capability in the Gambia Tourism Authority (GTA), to act as the
guardian of the environment for tourism-related activities, give
environmental advice to the industry and to act as facilitator of the
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and environmental clearance
process.
Detailed planning instructions for the TDAs based on a survey of the
areas should be prepared. Areas for development should be physically
demarcated and dialogue with local population should be initiated to
avoid later land use conflicts
A fast-track EIA procedure should be agreed with the National
Environment Agency (NEA). It should include instructions on key issues
identified in this report (source of building sand, proximity to the beach,
disposal of wastes, visual appearance and any other issues arising
from detailed survey).
The international classifications available for labelling hotels and
tourism service providers as “sustainable” or “green” operators should
be investigated. In dialogue with hotels, a national code of practice that
certifies practitioners of sound environmental management should be
developed.
All of these actions could be managed and financed under the umbrella
of a full Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA).
Hotels should be encouraged to adopt either a “green code” or cleaner
production techniques. Consultants should investigate the costs and
benefits of introducing cleaner production into pilot hotels in The
Gambia. If results are positive, the services should be made available
to the entire industry.
It is recommended that prices for local services (water resources,
wastewater disposal and solid waste disposal) be adjusted to a rate
that reflects (at least) the true cost of provision.
An environment working group should be formed within The Gambia
Hotel Association as a focal point for raising awareness and
disseminating information. It would also provide a forum for hotels to
collaborate on environmental investments such as:

64
 • Beach cleaning programme
• Bathing water monitoring programme
• Joint wastewater treatment initiatives
• Partnerships with community tourism schemes

Priority Pollution Control Investments

There are a small number of acute pollution problems that present a
significant threat to tourist health and amenity and require investment in
engineering solutions. Priorities for immediate action include the
following:
• Repair and renovation of the sewerage system and wastewater
treatment plant around Kotu.
• Construction of storm water drainage and control of runoff from
developments adjacent to the beach to a standard that safeguards
the beach from erosion and the bathing water from contamination.
• Installation of a drainage system and interceptors at Kotu power
plant to prevent spilled oil reaching the ocean via Kotu stream,
together with action to improve oil handling and waste oil storage at
the plant.
• Management to prevent fire and speedy closure of the Bakoteh
waste dump.
• Control of waste burning in and around the TDA, followed by better
management of domestic solid waste collection and treatment.

Monitoring and Consultation

Monitoring of the vulnerable environmental assets should be part of the
implementation programme of the Master Plan.
To take proper account of the environmental and social effects of
development and to be able to develop effective remediation
measures, the views of affected groups must be fully taken into
consideration. The GTA should instigate a consultation process to start
before final approval of the master plan and run through the
implementation phase.
8.4 Social Aspects

Tourism in The Gambia occurred at the same time as the country

gained independence in 1965. Growth and development of the nation
is inextricably linked to this industry which has impacted on the country
in so many ways both positively, negatively and with some grey areas.
Tourism shunted The Gambia from a traditional, laid back society with
simple standards of living to an economic system that required goods
and services that had to be provided immediately.
The concentration of tourism in the Greater Banjul Area with only
limited sojourns to other LGAs has in some way contributed to the
rural-urban drift. Inter-cultural exchanges between tourists and
Gambians are desirable. The Intercultural Training School at Njawara

65
and the ECCO are examples of best practices that can be emulated.
The richness of the culture of the different ethnic groups in marriages,
naming ceremonies, celebrations associated with festivities and food
production processes offer interesting possibilities for people who want
to visit a country and gain from its rich cultural experiences. Historical
and cultural sites and monuments are many and spread all over the
country. They have not yet been fully exploited.
Coordination
Several agencies are working in areas that are relevant to the tourism
industry. The compartmentalization and the sectoral nature of work
does not lend itself easily to information sharing and joint planning and
management. A tremendous amount of work is being done at the level
of Government, NGOs, Civil Society Organisations and by donors in
the areas of skills training, agriculture and HIV/AIDS prevention.
Organisations such as the Responsible Tourism Partnership, Tourism
Concern and ASSET are desirous to bring about positive changes in
tourism and to ensure that the benefits reach the people. An effective
coordination mechanism needs to be in place to ensure the harnessing
of all these interventions to bring about a quality tourism product.
Child Sex Tourism
There is a high level of commitment from the GTA to fight Child Sex
Tourism in The Gambia. This is manifested in the establishment of the
Child Protection Unit under the Tourism Security Unit within the TDA;
the formulation of a Tourism Code of Conduct for the tourism and travel
industry in The Gambia and the designation of a desk officer for Child
Sex Tourism within the Gambia Tourism Authority. The promulgation
of the Tourism Offences Act, 2003, enhances the protection of children
from sexual abuse and exploitation, in particular within the tourism
industry. The level of awareness and interest on the sexual exploitation
of children in The Gambia generated both nationally and internationally
by Study On Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation is an opportunity to
mobilise resources and build new partnerships for child protection in
tourism.
Gender Issues
Women can suffer specific discrimination within the tourism sector.
Women are consistently denied positions of leadership and
responsibility within the industry, they are concentrated in low skilled
and low paid occupations, and they are also most adversely affected by
decline in the tourism performance.
Tourism can violate women's rights, but it can also be used to
challenge traditional roles and to empower women, in economic, social,
cultural and political terms.

66
Bumsters
The bumster problem is an enigma. If it should assume a human face
it will be one with many faces, contradictory at some point, complex at
every turn and difficult to fathom or comprehend. Bumsters take their
role seriously. The assiduity, steadfastness, commitment which they
display in staking out the beaches from sunrise to sunset on a daily
basis indicates an inner resourcefulness which can be tapped to the
benefit of all in a more positive way.
A needs assessment exercise must be conducted to find out the needs
of these young people; the UK Travel Foundation is providing financial
support in this direction. The findings of this needs assessment survey
should form the basis of any action concerning the bumsters. Attempts
to use military force to get them off the beaches are not the answer.
They will resurface somewhere else and the security personnel cannot
be everywhere at the same time. What is more enduring and lasting is
to embody them with self-esteem.

Activities that promote their human dignity and self worth based on
income earning opportunities should be implemented as soon as the
needs assessment exercise is complete and the findings made public.
Representatives of the bumsters should be part of the planning
processes.

In Kuta, Bali, sections of the beach are licensed by the municipality to

individual traders. These traders have a direct incentive to control their
section of beach, while earning an income from their activities.
Although they seek to attract customers, if there is no interest they will
leave tourists alone, knowing that undue hassling could lead to the loss
of their license.

The Visitor Surveys (Airport and Hotels, detailed in Technical Reports 3

and 4) have shown that the ‘bumster’ issue will have to be tackled
because it is putting off far too many tourists, and so losing economic
benefits for The Gambia. Whilst solutions have to be handled very
sensitively, the authorities should not step away from being firm. For
example, ensuring that ‘bumsters’ cannot go into the airport is a
measure that many countries have implemented with great success. It
is particularly important at the airport because this is both the ‘first and
last’ impression for a tourist.

Unfortunately, the design of the Banjul airport terminal makes it difficult

to exclude bumsters from the terminal in a way that is common in other
countries, i.e. by restricting key areas of the terminal to arriving and
departing passengers only. This could only be done if the public
facilities, notably the downstairs café and the upstairs restaurant, were
to be re-located in order for them to be separately accessed. If this
were done, the arrivals and departures areas should be limited to
passengers only, with appropriate controls.

67
 Criminal behaviour on the part of bumsters should be dealt with by the
criminal law and courts should sit everyday if necessary to permit the
trial of those accused before the tourist leaves. Their behaviour needs
to be kept within bounds; the criminals need to be dealt with, rather
than all bumsters being criminalised. Work is going on by the GTA and
stakeholders developing curriculum on tourism for schools as well as
the interest from the UK Travel Foundation in funding some projects on
the bumsters. This should be pursued.

8.5 Agricultural Linkages

By strengthening the tourist sector and its affiliated industries, The

Gambia seeks to spread the benefits of tourism into broader segments
of the domestic labour force. Agricultural linkages are a critical element
in this benefit spread.
Horticulture Subsector
The horticulture sector is emerging as a growth sector in The Gambia.
The fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain to the tourist market is
characterised by: numerous small producers in Western Gambia,
producing largely undifferentiated fruit and vegetables; extremely weak
intermediaries lacking a formal wholesale market; an absence of
packaging/labelling businesses, expensive transportation and
distribution; and a stratified market, selling high-end produce to the
export market via vertically-integrated businesses moving fresh fruit
and vegetables to a tourist market of hotels and restaurants.
Meat & Dairy Subsector
The supply chain structure for fresh meat and poultry delivers
reasonable shares of product to tourist hotels and restaurants. A
possible crisis looms in the future, however, insofar as the national
abattoir will not meet EU standards for hygiene and health.
Commercial meat processors are doing a fair business providing
supermarkets, restaurants and hotels with needed processed meat and
dairy products. Local products routinely beat imported product on price,
and are nearly competitive in quality. There remains, however, a high-
end segment of the market not reached by local producers. High
market niche hotels import significant values of frozen meats in high
season. The greatest value category among imported perishables for
high-end hotels is reportedly meat, followed by dairy products. Fresh
milk is just establishing a presence in the market.
Fish Subsector
The fisheries sector of the Gambian economy has enjoyed perhaps the
best success to date of all of the food sub sectors examined, thanks in
part to refrigeration facilities located at key fish landing areas. The fish
supply chain to the tourist market works with reasonable success,
through the artisanal sub-sector, characterized by small vessels, is

68
using a set of capable intermediaries links to supply the tourism market.
Three public commercial facilities operate at key artisanal fishing
points, offering ice sales and cold storage rental. Hotels and
restaurants offer an attractive variety of local fishery products. Very little
fish and seafood product is imported for tourists.
Recommendations
Among the specific near-term product promotion ideas are:
• Fresh squeezed local tropical fruit & juices sold to tourist hotels for
use in upscale breakfast buffets, promoted with folded information
cards explaining provenance and special features, such as “Freshly-
squeezed juice,” “Local, fresh fruit juice”;
• Fresh local fruit available on those same upscale tourist breakfast
buffets, including mango (in season), pineapple, papaya and
banana;
• Homemade local jams, jellies and honey made by small businesses
for those same breakfast buffets and restaurants, promoted with
point of consumption cards referencing freshness, health and purity
of product;
• Fresh “catch of the day” fish specials and promotions in tourist
restaurants, including informed servers who can praise the
freshness and wholesomeness of Gambian fish and seafood
products, referring to “caught today” or “was swimming off our coast
yesterday”;
• Roasted and salted peanuts and cashews (cleaned/shelled to
minimize mess) available free at upscale bars or sold at nominal
cost in mid-market bars;
• Local hot sauce as a standard condiment on restaurant and buffet
tables, labelled as “locally-made,” and “natural product”; and
• Local processed products sourced from fair trade outlets benefiting
small producers or women's groups to inform tourists of this
information.
Medium-term promotional opportunities for commercial sales to
hotels/restaurants include:
• To improve the functioning of the horticulture supply-chain to the
food service industry, a designated wholesale market is a key need
for small peri-urban producers, largely women’s groups, attempting
to access the hotel market.
• The peri-urban women’s gardens would make excellent destinations
for sun-sand-beach tourists seeking to view agricultural work.

69
GAMBIA IS GOOD (Business Linkages Challenge Fund – DFID)
‘Gambia is Good’ (GiG) is a for profit company that trades fresh produce in
The Gambia linking small scale farmers in The Gambia with markets in the
tourism sector. A Fair Trade horticultural marketing company, GiG provides
tangible economic and social benefits to poor rural Gambian communities.
The project responds to a clear market opportunity, namely the supply of
good quality produce to the tourist sector in The Gambia, and builds on
existing production based initiatives at the farmer level.
The company started trading in 2004 with modest ambitions for the first year.
However, activities were scaled up and cumulative sales to March 2006
reached 106.8 tonnes with some daily sales at 1 tonne. As of 2006, GiG offer
a minimum of 15 different produce items in all seasons, including tomato,
onion, cabbage, cucumber, carrot, white radish, lettuce, sweet pepper, hot
pepper and Irish potato. Distribution is mainly through direct contracts with
hotels and restaurants, supplemented by a wholesale market. The project has
been so successful that GiG also started exporting radishes to Senegal and
there has been a new linkage created with Tropicasem, for the procurement
of quality seeds.
Initially GiG worked with 30 growers, this has increased to 270, of which 85%
are women. The project has greatly improved farming methods and the
modified irrigation has reduced women’s water collection from 66% of their
time to 22%, with knock on effects for yield and safety.
The project firmly demonstrates the potential for much greater links between
the tourism sector and the local economies and producers.

Institutional Support
Institutional support programmes to strengthen producer associations
are desperately needed. Best practice suggests that organizing
product-specific cooperatives work best such as vegetable, fruit, dairy
or meat product associations versus general commerce organizations.
This supply evolution will require a substantial donor-supported
institutional strengthening programme involving multi-year funding to
source expertise and commercial counselling. Technical areas of focus
for the support programme should include institutional strengthening;
management and marketing, advocacy; and technology transfer and
training in quality programmes for production, post-harvest handling,
sorting and grading.
For strategic development and to realise sustainable commercial
success, peri-urban horticulture producers need self-managed
cooperatives to initially target supermarkets, restaurants and smaller
hotels for sales, while improving production systems, post-harvest
handling, grading standards, pack house management, marketing and
sales. As they develop capacity and produce consistent quality output,
they can shift market focus and increasingly target high-end hotels and
restaurants.

70
8.6 Human Resources

Whilst ‘bumsters’ are seen as an issue that has to be solved, the

Gambian people are seen as a ‘product plus’ for the Gambian
destination. The people are friendly, intelligent, interesting and keen to
interact with tourists. Clearly there is an opportunity to make more of
this asset.
Human Resource development needs to cover both the formal and
informal sectors, the latter to be covered by working with ASSET.

Certain elements of an institutional framework are already in place,

particularly the National Training Authority. A Tourism Training Policy
Department (TTPD) could be established, with responsibilities that
include the following:
z Formulation of a tourism training policy;
z Liaison on curriculum development, occupational standards,
accreditation of training institutes with the NTA;
z Manpower planning – conducting surveys of employment,
training needs etc.;
z Co-ordinating the delivery of short courses and trainer training
programmes;
z Co-ordination of tour guide training;
z Co-ordination of tourism awareness programmes;
z Monitoring the administration of tourism training funding.

Tourism Training Resources

The primary training resource for new entrants to the hospitality sector
is the Gambia Hotel School. A number of private sector representatives
also reported that they hired students from the Gambia Home
Economics Skills Centre and the Girl Guides Skills Training Centre.
The Management Development Institute (MDI) and the Gambia
Technical Training Institute (GTTI), whilst not specifically training for the
tourism sector, are also potential training resources.
The tourism sector in The Gambia is primarily made up of individually
owned and managed enterprises. As they are not part of international
chains, they are unable to access a ready supply of training materials
and trainers, so training expenses are a heavy burden. Often, levels of
professional skills of persons working in the sector do not meet
international norms.
There is a need for national occupational skill standards and curriculum
to provide a common platform for tourism education and training. The
lack of nationally recognised tourism qualifications is leading to
different institutes issuing different awards, both local and international.
The industry has little faith in the awards and often discounts them
when hiring staff. There is no mechanism in place to provide funding for
tourism training in a co-ordinated and sustainable way. Output of

71
educational institutes will be insufficient to meet expected growth in the
sector.
Tourism Sector Training Needs
The greatest training requirements are at the supervisory and craft
levels, although the need for business skills for owner/operators was
also mentioned. Most urgent areas highlighted are as follows:
• Supervisory management skills, particularly in food & beverage
• Food preparation
• Tour guide training
• Language skills
• Business skills for SMEs and the informal sector
• Customer care and customer relations
• Training of trainers
• Hygiene, health & safety
• Food & beverage service
• Maintenance
• Tourism awareness
• Industry Training
• IT : Data base and computerization of the tourism industry
• Internet and website design
• Community Tourism Training
• Planning and management at senior level
• Sustainable Tourism and Cooperate Social Responsibility

Financing of Tourism Training Activities

Consideration has to be given to the precise composition of the funding
of the training system, being shared by the Government (subventions),
the industry (payroll levy or other form of contribution) and the trainees
(tuition fees).
External support is likely to be required in the following areas:
• Upgrading and development of the Gambia Hotel School (GHS) to a
National Tourism Training Institute (NTTI), including technical
assistance to train teachers;
• Development of the national curriculum in the various disciplines at
entry and intermediate levels and associated training of trainers;
• Establishment of a Tourism Training Unit (attached to the
GHS/NTTI), development of training programmes and learning
materials and support to deliver initial programmes;
• Further development of tourism awareness campaigns.

72
9. THE LONGER TERM PROGRAMME

9.1 The Longer Term

Whereas the short and medium term strategies in Sections Five to

Eight have been concerned with tackling the large challenges that face
the tourism industry in a ten year period, the Tourism Development
Master Plan is concerned with building upon this catalytic process to
achieve the Vision for tourism described in Section 4. In this Section,
this Vision is elaborated into a series of physical developments towards
which the Government and the tourism industry could move in the
longer term having solved the more immediate issues.

9.2 Tourism Development Framework (TDAs and Tourism Sites)

Based on the preferred development scenario the approach to tourism

planning has to consider the widest range of tourism markets possible,
so as to enable The Gambia to provide the widest range of appropriate
products. The development framework is therefore presented as a
‘menu of opportunities’, providing the basis for further research and
planning, promoting both extensive resort development within the
Tourism Development Area together with ecotourism development
along the River Gambia.

The Tourism Development Framework focuses on:

• Building on the strengths of the existing TDA with emphasis on

‘branding’ according to development, type of experience etc. The
intention is that the TDA (including the tourism area from Fajara to
Cape Point) is to have a series of differentiated products and will be
much more in keeping with sustainable development and with the
future demands of the markets;

• Developing the nature, heritage and community based tourism

product along the River Gambia (Oyster Creek to Brefet) in a more
intensive and commercial manner, offering an ‘experience’, but not
compromising the integrity of the resource;

• Opening up and promoting Kiang West National Park and

surrounding areas only when management is in place and
developing the nature and river products as the ‘adventure theme’
of The Gambia;

• Emphasising the River Gambia in the product portfolio, initially as a

river cruise from Tendaba to George Town with stops along the
way. In the longer term, the Upper River section may be developed
for high end ‘get away from it all’ tourism, but only when there is an
interest from resorts willing to provide their own local air access.

73
In addition to the existing TDA (Banjul to Allahein), a further nine TDAs
have been identified, making ten in all:

1. West Coast (existing, with extension to the north)

2. Brikama
3. Western River
4. Jufureh
5. Banjul
6. North Coast
7. Kiang West
8. Baobolong Wetland
9. Central River
10. Upper River

In determining these TDAs, the following factors were taken into

consideration:

• existing development of hotels, lodges, etc;

• proposed areas for tourism development;
• location of parks, protected areas, etc;
• location and possible integration of local communities;
• natural and man-made tourist attractions and their spatial
relationships;
• range of tourism products that could be developed;
• the logic of their geographical grouping or ‘clustering’;
• access in respect of time, distance and cost from the main West
Coast TDA;
• the existing and planned level of infrastructure, particularly roads
and utilities; and
• the potential to create a composite product for marketing and image
building purposes.

Within these TDAs, a number of Tourism Sites are to be identified.

Designated Tourism Sites comprise significant natural and cultural
heritage sites, areas of attractive landscape, other attractions where
activities take place and key sites for tourism development.

Up Country identified TDAs and those identified for eco-tourism

development must be developed in consultation with communities and
their active participation.

A Local Government Reform and Decentralisation programme has

been initiated which seeks to move socio-economic development
planning processes to the local level. The process is putting in place
both institutional and legal frameworks necessary for the effective
participation of local communities in the sustainable management of
the environment. This will also involve much of the local management
of tourism.

74
Figure 9.1 – The Ten Tourism Development Areas (TDAs)

It is therefore suggested that consideration is given to the designation

of some or all of the new TDAs as Community Tourism Development
Areas; placed under the communities and their local area councils, if
this can be encompassed within the legal framework. A consultation
process would be established with a view to identifying agricultural and
tourism land uses.

Thus, the GTA should concentrate on the consolidation and

development of West Coast, Western River and Banjul TDAs with the
remainder to involve communities and their local governments.

75
9.3 Anchoring and Linking TDAs and Tourism Sites

Clustering
In order to attract more tourists to the TDAs, induce them to stay longer
and be convenient for tour operators, various sites and attractions
should be combined or linked in one area. It is very important to
develop a product that effectively integrates sites, attractions, events,
activities, and associated accommodation. This clustering of sites is
particularly applicable to the Western River, where each attraction
should be developed and packaged showcasing authentic products
(crafts, services, products, experiences) and given a place on an
itinerary to achieve a strong appeal.
Theming
Clusters may be made more attractive by developing and building on
themes likely to interest potential visitors. Themes enable product
differentiation. Using the example of the Central River, one might be
part of a themed tour, focusing on the river environment, coastal life
and community interactions with, and use of, natural and cultural
heritage resources.
Themed Visitor Centres
Themed visitor centres are identified for each TDA. The purpose of the
visitor centre would be to provide structured environmental education
and a concentration of facilities, services and information for tourists.
Possible themes are:
z West Coast – “family fun by the sea”; Senegambia is the main
visitor centre for the northern area; further smaller centres will
be developed with bird, forest and turtle nesting themes.
z Brikama – crafts, eco-agro (jam making, bee keeping) market
z Jufureh – cultural heritage
z Western River – mangroves, bird watching, nature and cultural
heritage
z Banjul – cultural heritage activities
z North Coast – conservation, wildlife observation
z Kiang West – conservation, camping, adventure, bird watching
z Baobolong Wetland – conservation, wildlife observation
z Central River – cruising, bird watching, cultural heritage
z Upper River – relaxation, nature and cultural heritage

76
Figure 9.2 – Themed Visitor Centres

Initially, the visitor centres may be a series of well-coordinated

information panels and associated service shops.
Themed Routes and Trails
Speciality routes enable visitors to focus on themes. This allows them
to choose a particular experience (nature interpretation, heritage, the
river, eco/agro production etc.). Within this framework, a trail system
can be developed to offer a mix of recreational settings from remote to
urban. These could include the ‘River Trail’, which may be a
combination of road, track and creek, and has the opportunity of linking
the Tourism Sites within the Western River TDA. The ‘Wilderness Trail’
in Kiang West may combine the offerings of the Park and surrounding
area with the tourism ‘aura’ or lure of the destination. A coastal trail
may be developed along the West Coast TDA.
9.4 Integrating TDAs, Tourism Sites, Links and Themes

The overall concept aims to establish and promote a network of

designated tourism circuits (by road, river or air), scenic routes and
trails, with appropriate signage and interpretive information that forms
strong linkages with tourism sites and attractions, protected areas,
visitor centres, community projects, events, and related experiences.
There is a need to integrate all these elements, in terms of:
• delivering product experiences;
• raising awareness about exploring and discovering The Gambia;
and
• marketing and promoting the product.
Investments made in the existing and proposed tourism sites probably
cannot be justified on an individual basis alone. The real value of the
investment will be achieved through integration strategies that
present the sites in the context of an overall product experience. In this
respect, well-organised tour routes and excursions, escorted by well-
trained, knowledgeable and friendly guides, can make a significant
difference to a visit.

77
Figure 9.3 - Tourism Development Characteristics

9.5 Carrying Capacity

Tourism carrying capacity is a technique that is used to define the

capability of an area to endure the maximum level of development.
Carrying capacity revolves around physical/ecological considerations,
socio/demographic ones and political/economic issues. Physical
considerations relate to both to natural systems and to flexible ones
such as infrastructure systems including water supply and sewerage.
The social dimension refers to those social aspects which are of
importance to local communities; social capacity thresholds being
particularly difficult to evaluate. Political/economic issues relate to the
impacts of tourism on the local economy, including impact on
demand/supply patterns for goods and services.

In The Gambia carrying capacity issues relate primarily to infrastructure

and social considerations. Ecological damage such as from sand
mining relates more to the growth of the resident population in the
urban area (Banjul and Kanifing) than to tourism directly – although this
population growth is to some degree encouraged by tourism. In the
future development of TDA’s it is imperative that visitor management
measures are taken to minimise any local impact of visitor numbers, as
well as infrastructure needs and, in particular, the involvement of local
communities in their management and operation.

Defining physical carrying capacities are in any event challenging,

since impact monitoring has indicated that environmental resilience
ebbs and flows with factors such as seasonality, intensity of use and
recovery periods between use. Physical carrying capacity tends to be
a blunt instrument that is not designed to accommodate these
variables. Visitor management will be needed within specific areas,
particularly National Parks and Reserves, which will need to be based
on clear management objectives.

78
10. DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH TO 2025

10.1 General

The Tourism Development Framework seeks to unify and strengthen

the tourism product by providing a framework to integrate development
into a cohesive plan rather than allowing development to occur
piecemeal, thus enhancing the value of future opportunities.
It is within this context that Action Areas have been identified and it is
recommended that Action Area Plans be prepared for all ten areas, integrating
park management plans, Government plans and infrastructure programmes.
The level of planning will present the tourism opportunities as a whole and set
out an overall strategic approach and development guidelines for all major
aspects of physical tourism development.
10.2 West Coast TDA

This TDA will need to be redefined through further investigation of

boundaries, land ownership and status of proposed projects.
Development briefs will need to be prepared for future resort
development.
There will be a presumption in favour of development clustering in
existing settlements and tourism sites. In tourism sites not designated
for conservation, most forms of mixed use tourism-related
developments, including hotels, resorts, housing, commercial and
tourism facilities would be generally applicable. In this way it is
expected that sufficient critical mass will be created to make more
efficient use of costly Government infrastructure investments such as
new sewage treatment plants, whilst providing the range of support
services and facilities to help stimulate the conditions for private sector
involvement and initiative.
Five Action Areas are identified:
Action Area 1 – Cape Point to Kololi
Action Area 2 – Bijilo Forest Reserve to Tanji Bird Reserve
Action Area 3 – Tanji Fishing Village to Sanyang
Action Area 4 – Sanyang to Gunjur
Action Area 5 – Gunjur to Kartung

Action Area 1 – Cape Point to Kololi

This area includes the concentration of hotel development, varying in
size and quality. Around 6,000 beds are available and a further 2,000
beds are planned. However, the status of some of these projects is in
doubt. Tourism attractions include Fajara Golf Club (18 holes) and the
tourism centre at Senegambia.

79
The overall aim of the TDA should be one of consolidation,
encouraging development of vacant sites and upgrading the public
realm around the existing hotels.
Although the main theme of the TDA will be the beach/water
sports/activities, there are opportunities for more passive pursuits such
as bird watching. Besides the existing hotels, birds are to be found at
various sites, e.g. the casino cycle track, Kotu ponds and creek and at
Cape Point.
Possible projects include:
• development briefs for vacant hotel sites;
• further development and extension of the ‘cycle track’ into an
interpretative bird walk/ parkway which links and gives access to all
hotels;
• townscape and landscape improvements for the ‘tourism centre’ at
Senegambia;
• ‘Green’ hotel improvement programme (energy conservation and
waste management) for existing hotels;
• Koto stream environmental management programme to include
product improvements (trails, street furniture etc);
• beach improvement programme (clean up, landscaping and
facilities);
• road improvement programme including the rehabilitation of Atlantic
Road between Fajara and Cape Point; and
• overall tourism signage and information programme for the TDA.

80
81
82
Action Area 2 – Bijilo Forest Reserve to Tanji Bird Reserve

Much of the area is committed for development with new quality hotels
and housing currently being constructed.
The theme is one of coastal ecology. Two significant nature sites are
located at each end of the TDA – Bijilo Forest and Tanji Wetland.
These elements point to the opportunity for partnerships in tourism.
Partnerships between the private sector and natural resource
managers will strengthen the effectiveness of projects, and create
leverage, and opportunities.
Possible projects include:
• Bijilo Forest rehabilitation with self guided trails and visitor
information;
• Tanji Wetland visitor centre, trails, observation points and hides;
• coastal trail linking the forest and wetland area;
• potential themed recreational park;
• improved facilities at fish smoking site;
• new access road serving housing development; and
• commercial/tourism centre.

Action Area 3 – Tanji Fishing Village to Sanyang

A mixed use/resort development area to accommodate future

expansion of the residential market. Sites have already been released
for housing within the TDA but the area lacks planning.
Possible projects include:
• survey and redefinition of TDA;
• consolidation of existing villages and settlements to prevent sprawl
and retain rural character of area;
• development brief for harbour/mixed use villa/apartment scheme
(150 hectares);
• development brief for integrated resort scheme (500 hectares); and
• site for sewage treatment plant.

83
84
Action Area 4 – Sanyang to Gunjur

The TDA represents a tremendous opportunity for a large integrated

resort. The zoning and consolidation of land for future tourism
development/conservation are sensitive issues. Land ownership
information is required and an integrated plan prepared to ensure the
long term potential and sustainability of this area.

Possible project components include:

• three themed resort hotels;
• conference facilities;
• sports academy;
• beach facilities with turtle management programme;
• stables, equestrian centre and trails;
• country lodge and 27 hole golf course;
• range of villas, bungalows and apartments;

85
• forest management programme, trails and interpretation;
• wetland/bird sanctuary visitor centre, trails, hides and lookouts etc;
and
• community development programmes with adjoining villages of
Sanyang and Gunjur.

Action Area 5 – Gunjur to Kartung

The area presents an attractive proposition for the development of

special interest tourism – health, nature and culture. Large plots are
envisaged allowing generous buffer zones between developments with
the back land forest areas jointly managed by the resorts/lodges/camps
and local communities.

Possible projects include:

• survey and redefinition of TDA;

86
 • consolidation of existing villages and settlements to prevent sprawl
and retain rural character of area;
• development brief for tourism sites/forest areas;
• tourism visitor centre in Kartung; and
• wetland management programme

10.3 Brikama TDA

Brikama is at the crossroads of many routes and is a hub for taxis and
public transport within The Gambia and for travellers to Senegal. It is
en route from the West Coast TDA to the Western River TDA.

To encourage tourists to visit, stay longer and spend more, emphasis

will be given to developing and exploiting local community skills –
crafts, jam making, bee keeping etc. A new craft market is currently
being built to house existing craftsmen. Opportunities exist to embellish
the project further with additional facilities and programmes for display,

87
 events, music and eco-agro sales etc. The facility will become the focus
for tourism and community activity.

10.4 Western River TDA

The TDA stretches from Denton Bridge to Brefet/Bulok Bolong and

includes Oyster Creek, Lamin Lodge, Abuko Nature Reserve,
Mandinari village, Makasutu and Tumani Tenda. The area presents an
interesting product including a broad range of activities combining a
number of different interests – historical, wildlife, bird watching, nature
trails, river and creek trails, local customs etc.

The TDA will be developed as an ‘introduction’ to The Gambia’s

ecotourism product with the objectives to promote the area and help
visitors find their way to the variety of interesting Tourism Sites,
enabling them to learn more about and fully appreciate the country’s
natural, historic and cultural resources.

Action Areas will need to be identified and plans prepared to include

product improvements (presentation and interpretation of sites) and
activities – guided and unguided walks, kayaking, canoeing, fishing,
swimming. The various Action Areas – Abuko (interpretation), Oyster
Creek (boat access and moorings), Mandinari (tourism awareness)
etc., may be ‘stitched’ together by the ‘River Trail’ using a combination
of road/track/water/trails, thereby emphasising this continuous
ecological corridor.

88
Fig 10.7 Western TDA’s

89
10.5 Juffureh TDA

The concept envisages consolidating and building upon the historical

assets of Juffureh and further expanding and developing the area into a
highly educational destination, incorporating nearby Fort James Island.
Creating better road access and wharfing, improving the product and
developing better partnerships between the private sector and local
communities in the management and promotion of the area are all key
in increasing visitor numbers to the area.

A Community Action Area Plan is required. A ‘bottom-up’ approach to

community-based tourism is vital, allowing the local villages the
opportunity to make their feelings and fears, hopes and aspirations
known. A programme of community participation with the aim of
increasing community awareness about the importance of tourism and
their area will need to be established.

10.6 Banjul TDA

To improve Banjul’s tourism appeal, it will be important to upgrade the

city’s image by improving some of the heritage buildings, its streets,
public spaces and infrastructure through an urban regeneration
programme.

This is an ambitious proposal and will take years to complete and

straddle several market cycles. However, whilst the Government’s aim
is to increase the numbers of visitors to The Gambia, it also has a role
to play in improving the product and helping to provide the recreational,
social and living environment that will not only encourage new and
improved development, but will also be for the benefit of the local
community.

The problems of the city centre cannot be solved just by ‘cleaning up’
the area. Urban design is a critical ingredient for the process of urban
regeneration and therefore any proposed townscape improvements will
have to be seen in the context of an overall, long-term development
strategy.

10.7 North Coast TDA

This is a unique area "where the bush meets the beach". It includes
Niumi National Park with potential to create linkages with neighbouring
Senegal’s wildlife reserve. The coast should be protected and reserved
for long term high-end quality resorts, developed sensitively and in
synergy with the Park.

The upgrading of the ferry service between Banjul and Barra will be
required as well as rehabilitation of Fort Bullen to serve as the
‘gateway’ to the TDA.

90
10.8 Kiang West TDA

The TDA includes Kiang West National Park and surrounding areas of
Tendaba, Manduar, Kemoto and across the river including Jowara
Bolong and Kerewan. The TDA will focus on integrating tourism
development with the National Park and surrounds. The intention will
be to maximise the carrying capacity of the area by creative marketing
(the adventure capital of The Gambia), educational packages and
providing visitor facilities, imaginative presentation and lots of
interpretation.
Action Plans will need to be drawn up for specific areas and include:
• tourism/visitor centre at Tendaba which will become the main
service area and transition stage from fast Banjul boat traffic to
smaller, slower boats travelling the Central River and Upper River;
• Park access road from the main south bank road;
• Park entrance/main gate and second information centre;
• transport system/circuits and tracks within and outside the Park;
• zoning of the area to include passive and active areas;
• nature trails, observation towers, lookouts, hides and adventure
activities etc;
• signage and interpretation throughout the area; and
• in the longer term, the development of an airstrip close to Tendaba.

It will be important to encourage widespread community participation in

the development process. Assistance will be given to local communities
to develop tourism initiatives including river activities, camping facilities
and possible small-scale accommodation.

10.9 Baobolong Wetland TDA

This TDA is a long-term project with potential for wildlife viewing. The
area is environmentally and culturally sensitive and therefore the future
tourism role needs to be very carefully planned and managed.

10.10 Central River TDA

The TDA follows the river from Tendaba to Georgetown. The area
offers a special river experience. The river biodiversity is excellent and
will certainly appeal to the bird watchers and the visitors who view river
cruising as an ‘add on’ to the holiday experience. The true potential of
the area lies in exploiting the river’s character and developing small
scale, inexpensive but stylish accommodation, offering excellent
service and guiding. Activities will include bird watching, kayaking,
fishing, hiking and interacting with the local communities. The Central
River will present a model of low impact – high value tourism.

91
Figure 10.8 - Central and Upper River

Action Plans will include identification of further tourism sites, jetties at

key landing sites, conservation areas and provision of trails and low-
key visitor facilities. Georgetown will also require visitor facilities.

Community-based tourism development programmes including micro

financing opportunities will be established. While in general
communities want the benefits of tourism, it is acknowledged that some
residents may lack a realistic understanding of what is involved and
what the potential impacts may be.

10.11 Upper River TDA

This TDA is a long-term project and will involve a better understanding

of what the area can offer in terms of interest to the visitor (nature,
wildlife, culture etc). There is potential for quality resort development
spread out along the river to emphasise the remoteness of the area.
Resort development here will certainly benefit local communities,
however, access is key and the provision of a landing strip close to
Basse will be a necessity.

92
11. TEN YEAR ACTION PLAN

11.1 Introduction

The previous sections have outlined the short and medium term
strategies and the long-term vision and development opportunities
(through to 2025). In this section, short-term initiatives have been
drawn together into the Ten Year Action Plan.
The following Action Plan is the key output of the TDMP in that it:
• sets out a co-ordinated work programme;
• identifies the priorities and timetable for action within that period;
• identifies key management and partners in implementation; and
• provides an outline indication of the likely budget implications.

In addition it is the means by which progress in the implementation of

the TDMP can be monitored.
11.2 Measures and Targets of the Action Plan

The Action Plan is set within the context of the initiatives that have to
be undertaken in order to ensure that tourism can make progress in
The Gambia. Of the various options considered by the Government
and the Gambian tourism industry, the decision was taken to adopt the
‘Double Income’ option through to 2025, and therefore we are seeking
to increase the level of tourism and income for the country.
Investigations of the many facets of this complex industry indicate that
initiatives have to be undertaken on a whole range of fronts. Without
doubt, these initiatives will require assistance from outside of The
Gambia.
Highlights of the measures and targets that can be achieved over the
short term, an initial five year period, are presented in the Figure on the
next page.

93
 Figure 11.1 – Main Measures and Targets for Ten Years
MAIN MEASURE NEW TARGETS – HIGHLIGHTS

Growth in tourist arrivals Reach 150,000 tourist arrivals by 2015

Increase in air connections
Lengthen season into
September, October, April and
May
Accommodation Capacity
Human Resources: Upgrading
The Gambia Hotel School
• Annual daily scheduled flight from London
• At least two new originating airports from UK for
charters (seasonal)
• At least four ‘scheduled charters’ weekly frequency
from Germany (seasonal)
• Maintenance of direct air access from North America
and from key points in West Africa
50% plus uplift in current low occupancy factors in hotels
in these months
• Three to five new large hotels (say 150 - 200 rooms
each) operational by 2015
• Increase in self-catering and small hotel
accommodation (say, up 75%)
• At least three new small scale community related
accommodation developments
National Tourism Training Institute running at full
capacity, building upon the outstanding asset of the
Gambian people, giving them the needed professional
and technical skills

11.3 Institutional Development

A crucial element in the whole process of getting Gambian tourism

back onto a growth path, and indeed a ‘surge growth path’, is to
strengthen the two key institutions that can provide the right business
environment for the private sector to flourish. These institutions are:
z The Department of State for Tourism and Culture (DOSTC); and
z The Gambian Tourism Authority (GTA).
The current status and future development of both organisations is
discussed, in relation to international best practice, in Annex 3.
The DOSTC is to continue as the main tourism policy and planning arm
of Government whilst the GTA continues to be the implementation and
operational agency. There needs nonetheless to be significant
capacity building within these bodies if the Tourism Development
Master Plan is to be implemented.
The principal tasks for these two Government arms are:
z To market the destination in the targeted market segments, in
order to supplement the activities of the tour operators (creating
a Gambian brand) and also to open up those market segments
that are independent of the tour operators;

94
z To provide the management information which the Gambian
tourism industry needs in order to improve its operational
performance;
z To bring back order into the balance between demand for, and
supply of, sites for tourism development in the TDA ;
z To put in place the whole series of initiatives that are required in
this Master Plan.
Institutional Strengthening and Capacity building for DOSTC

DOSTC will need to play a lead role, including in monitoring the

performance of the GTA. It will be called upon to carry out many
detailed policy analyses in the period of the Action Plan. It is proposed
that Technical Assistance is sought for some three years both to assist
with carrying out these analyses and to help in the training of local
personnel.

Institutional Strengthening and Capacity building for GTA

As previously stated, the organisation of the tourism industry is one of

the main pre-conditions of a successful tourism sector. The GTA is to
be responsible for guiding and facilitating the tourism sector. Technical
assistance has an important role to play in assisting the GTA to
develop its institutional capacity.

The main areas for such technical assistance are in:

z preparation of an overall strategy and a programme of activities

for a 3-5 year period;

z marketing planning, for initiatives dovetailed to the market

strategy and to the marketing strategy, especially the operation
of tour operator incentives and marketing support schemes, and
any assistance that the GCAA may need in implementing the
route and frequency incentive schemes for airlines;
z statistics – collection and analysis of tourism statistics working
with the CSO, leading eventually to TSAs for the tourism
industry;
z site recovery from non-performing leaseholders. This will require
considerable political courage on the part of the Gambian
Government, and not a little technical skill in recovering these
sites. The GTA has substantial regulatory and land distribution
powers in the TDA;
z capacity building in licensing and regulation with the GTA
acquiring the ability to enforce minimum standards in
accommodation and restaurants and to close down those
facilities that do not meet these standards.

95
 Key components of the Action Plan will be to build capacity at the GTA,
and to establish and strengthen the capacity of the GTA to play a full
role in Plan implementation under the overall leadership of the
Department of State for Tourism and Culture.

11.4 Plan implementation process

The aim of the TDMP is to present an overall framework for future

development, identifying key projects for short and medium term
implementation. The successful realisation of the Plan is therefore
dependent upon the implementation of specific actions. These actions
are outlined below in the form of an action strategy covering:

i. Destination Marketing
ii. Product Development
iii. Quality in Tourism Establishments
iv. Social Issues
v. Human Resources
vi. Responsible Tourism
vii. Linkages
viii. Infrastructure
ix. Environmental Management

i) Destination Marketing

The marketing of The Gambia is done mainly by the tour operators.

More destination marketing has to be done by GTA in order to support:

• The efforts to secure more air services

• The tour operators, who do a good job in marketing The Gambia
• The independent travel sector, which will grow significantly with
more ‘scheduled operations’, and is a sector, very small, but with
growth prospects

The principal marketing recommendations are that:

• a re-branding exercise is undertaken
• destination marketing is undertaken through a private/public sector
marketing team/partnership
• a drive is made to continue to improve air access including the
continued expansion of scheduled services
• the Roots market is researched in the north-eastern USA

ii) Product development

The aims of the product development strategy are to develop a range

of land and water based products:

96
• to conserve, interpret and exploit the natural and cultural heritage
sites and areas;
• to promote community-based tourism development;
• to conserve, enhance and market the product; and
• to encourage revitalisation of hotels and diversification of the
accommodation product through introduction of integrated resorts,
vacation villages, quality lodges; and
• promoting a variety of things to see and do.

A series of pilot/demonstration projects were identified to kick-start the

product development strategy and include:

• natural resource development – beach, forest and park

improvements, National Park regeneration;
• cultural heritage resource development - historic sites, buildings,
reuse and interpretation;
• community development – promotion of soft culture, arts and crafts,
small business enterprises and guiding;
• product promotion – discovery routes, nature and heritage trails and
information dissemination; and
• integrated planning – resort and recreational developments;

Projects have been identified for each of the TDAs. For each project
there will need to be a detailed project definition and Terms of
Reference (TOR). Project profiles for selected projects are given in the
annexes to Technical Report 7, Physical Tourism Planning. There may
be many more projects identified as detailed plans are prepared for
each TDA. As regards the Ten Year Action Plan emphasis should be
on creating a more attractive environment in the existing TDA.

Other key projects are:

z Training local tour guides with pilot programmes, potentially at

James Island and/or Jufereh;
z Research of product improvements required to attract higher
spending customers from the EU.

iii) Quality in tourism establishments, including the establishment of

minimum standards for ‘tourist hotels’, the review of investment
incentives and of Government policy on all-inclusive resorts, and the
institution of annual Gambia tourism awards that encourage product
enhancement and enable quality of provision and operation to be
recognised in a way that will also assist their own marketing;
iv) Social issues, including addressing the issue of bumsters, seeking
to establish revenue earning opportunities for them in a way that brings
about a change in their behaviour. The UK Travel Foundation is
assisting beach boys to find alternative means of employment, with an initial
‘needs assessment’ followed by a training and skills development plan. This
initiative will need to be followed through. Bumster free areas must also be

97
achieved, including at the airport (although this will require a change to
the design and layout of the terminal building);
v) Human Resource Development, aimed at improving both job
opportunities for Gambians and improved levels of customer care in
line with the Vision for tourism. The Gambian people represent a real
opportunity for The Gambia to differentiate itself from other tourist
destinations, and so offer something special for tourists that supports
the implementation of the Vision for tourism. Training programmes in
their widest sense will be the key drivers in this process.

Upgrading The Gambia Hotel School into a National Tourism Training

Institute is the key instrument for achieving this. It is a major project to
be undertaken in the Ten Year Plan (excluding the major investments
to be undertaken by the private sector).

vi) Responsible Tourism with the furtherance of the Responsible

Tourism Policy for The Gambia and the linkage of the mainstream
travel industry with community development and poverty alleviation;

vii) Linkages: Spreading the benefits of tourism is critical to The

Gambia, and the main instrument in terms of linkages is seen to be
institutional support to the various agricultural producer associations.
The ‘Gambia is Good’ project needs to be maintained; this project is an
outstanding one against international comparison and the concept
should be further developed. Efforts on agricultural linkages are being
supported by the Travel Foundation.

TOURISM AND AGRICULTURE

Initiatives such as ‘Gambia is Good’, which received start-up support from the
UK Department for International Development, and tours by visitors to see
vegetables being grown and harvested, as supported by the UK Travel
Foundation, provide a basis for the linkage of agriculture with tourism, and for
new agricultural related attractions to develop. In future these should aim to
extend to areas such as flower cultivation, with visitors being able to take fresh
Gambian produced flowers home at the end of their holidays. These kind of
initiatives are also likely to need donor assistance during the start-up phase, but
they need to be both commercially sustainable in the longer term and
supported by the Gambian tourism industry as a whole.

viii) Specific infrastructure developments aimed at improving

environmental conditions in key areas for tourism. The main tourism
programmes identified are:
i. Rehabilitation of the Kotu Wastewater Treatment Plant;
ii. Measures at the Kotu Power Plan to prevent oil spills;
iii. Clean-up and closure of Bakoteh solid waste dump. This is
already designed and will be assisted through World Bank
funding.

98
 The reliable supply of electricity is very important to the long
term sustainable future for tourism as it is important for other
sectors of the economy.
ix) Environmental Management: Some of the environmental issues
are handled under the infrastructure improvements but an additional
programme of environmental improvements under the auspices of the
NEA is included in the overall Action Plan.

11.5 Ten Year Time Frame

A number of projects have been considered for inclusion in the Ten

Year Action Plan. These projects cover a number of fields including
those that will:
• most effectively build capacity to implement the Tourism Master
Plan;
• provide a number of projects for funding by the African
Development Bank and/or different agencies;
The costs of these projects will be modest compared with any of the
private sector investments in new facilities. But, whilst small, these will
be the initiatives that will provide the right business environment for the
private sector such that economic benefits spin off from the private
sector investments to the Gambian people.
11.6 First Rank Projects

The Action Plan covers a series of projects as well as a number of key

strategies. Of these arguably the most important are:
z Strengthening the GTA (with technical assistance and capacity
training) so that it is capable of undertaking the substantial range
of management tasks with which it is entrusted;
z The market strategy – developing new markets and new market
niches using the instruments of (1) airline and tour operator
support combined with (2) new destination marketing by GTA;
z The product development strategy for large hotels – allowing
multiple use property development, plus overtly bringing site
supply in the TDA under control;
z Broadening the product portfolio, building on the opening of a
Sheraton, with new forms of mixed development and community
based projects together with consideration of ‘all-inclusives’;
z Building on the key asset of the Gambian people with, on the
one hand, measures to bring the bumster issue into a positive
force rather than a negative force, plus, on the other hand,
substantial training of Gambians through the metamorphosis of
The Gambia Hotel School into the National Tourism Training
Institute.

99
 Second rank projects relate to product development, the
implementation of a tourism awareness programme, institutional
support to producer associations and further infrastructure and
environmental improvements.

11.7 Sources of Financial Support

There a number of sources of support for financial and technical

assistance on which The Gambia can draw. As of 2006, financial
assistance has come from the African Development Bank for the
preparation of the Tourism Development Master Plan and from the UK
Department of International Development, who through the Tourism
Challenge Fund and the Business Linkages Challenge Fund, have
supported two tourism related initiatives in The Gambia. This has been
followed by the initiatives supported by the UK Travel Foundation,
drawing on funding from major UK tour operators.
The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has played a
particularly significant role in the support of infrastructure, including
airport and road development that supports the development of tourism
as well as of other economic activities. Also relevant is the work of the
Bill Gates Foundation in supporting efforts to tackle malaria including in
The Gambia.

Other multi-lateral agencies, apart from the African Development Bank,

who are supporting the development of tourism are:

Assistance to government

z The European Union, via the European Development Fund.

EDF supported interventions in the tourism sector in Africa
include Kenya, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania and Uganda;
z The World Bank, which, inter alia, is supporting the development
of the tourism sector in Zambia via infrastructure and municipal
development and which has financed privatisation activities in
the sector including in Kenya and Tanzania;
z UNDP, which has provided financial support to the sector, and
UNWTO which implements technical assistance, for example, in
tourism statistics and the development of tourism satellite
accounts.

Support to the private sector

z African Project Development Facility, whose regional sponsor is

the African Development Bank, and whose executing agency is
the International Finance Corporation;
z International Finance Corporation itself, providing loan and
equity funding for major hotel and resort projects;
z European Investment Bank, again focusing on major projects

100
The challenge for The Gambia in taking advantage of these sources of
financial support for the private sector is for government to provide an
appropriate environment, including a vigorous tourism marketing
organisation that is engendering confidence and an appropriate
backdrop for investment.

Bi-lateral assistance

Sources of assistance to the tourism sector elsewhere include:

z EU bi-lateral donors, notably SNV Netherlands Development

Organisation, albeit focusing on specific countries, German
Agency for Technical Co-operation (GTZ) and France, who are
funding the construction of a tourism training school in Tanzania;
z Japan Agency for International Cooperation (JICA), who funded
a tourism master plan for Kenya;
z United States Agency for International Development (USAID),
who are supporting tourism development in a number of
countries including Mozambique.

Other agencies
z The Aga Khan Development Network incorporates Tourism
Promotion Services which, through its Serena brand, has
supported tourism development in Asia and East Africa

The Department of State for Tourism and Culture will need to maintain
co-ordination with other arms of government, including the Ministry of
Finance, to ensure that the interests of tourism are fully considered
when development priorities are being established with foreign donor
agencies.

101
TEN YEAR PLAN – PRIORITY PROJECTS

First Rank

The following projects are key to the implementation of the Plan and have greatest priority. They require technical assistance that
can potentially be supported initially by the African Development Bank while packages of support are negotiated with other donors
such as the EU and UNDP/UNWTO. Overall responsibility for implementation will lie with the Department of State for Tourism and
Culture. It would benefit if the private sector were to form an umbrella tourism association or federation along the lines found
elsewhere in Africa to work with the Department of State.

Project / Action Year Lead Partners Budget in

US$
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1. Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building
Department of State for Tourism and Culture
1.1 Establishment of a Tourism Policy and Planning Unit within Dept of State Source of TA support 75,000
the Department of State with Technical Co-operation z for Tourism & to be identified
Support Culture
The Gambia Tourism Authority
1.2.1 Tourism marketing leadership and actions for The Gambia: GTA, supported Source of TA support
• Capacity Building with long and/or short term TA, by Dept of State to be identified;
z z for Tourism & Agreement on modus
including 3-5 year strategic plan 100,000
• Enhancement of the role of the private sector in z
Culture operandi between
z Dept of State and
tourism marketing with an enhanced and transparent
role in the operations of the GTA private sector
associations
1.2.2 Pilot marketing programme aimed at attracting new higher GTA Source of donor 250,000
level business: TA and financial assistance z financial support to be
identified
1.2.3 Capacity building in tourism market data so The Gambia’s GTA CSO 50,000
tourism sector has measures of performance z z Approach to
UNDP/UNWTO
1.2.4 Capacity building in reorganisation of TDA land, with site GTA Dept of State for 50,000
re-allocation for approved development projects and Local Government

102
 Project / Action Year Lead Partners Budget in
US$
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
development briefs for key sites z z and Lands, with TA to
be identified
1.2.5 Capacity building in classification/licensing and regulation GTA Director of Medical 50,000
as a basis for a quality drive for hygiene in hotels and z z Services
restaurants
2. Destination Marketing
2.1 Rebranding initiative: research in key originating markets, GTA Source of TA support 125,000
preparation of comprehensive branding programme and z to be identified
branding toolkit for The Gambia
2.2 Air Access programme:
• Scheduled airline promotion GTA TA support 30,000
z
GCAA GTA, Airlines 1,500,000
• GCAA airline incentive schemes (dependent on
z z z z z z z z (income
outcome of scheduled airline promotion)
rebate)
2.3 Tour operator incentive schemes z z z z z z GTA Tour Operators 1,500,000
2.4 Market research of further potential in US ‘roots’ market: GTA Tourism industry 30,000
contact with identified tour operators by phone/email z
3. Product Development
3.1 Research with EU tour operators on required product GTA Industry 50,000
improvements in The Gambia for them to bring their z
higher spending customers, leading to an expansion of
visitor attractions
3.2 Create attractive environment in existing TDA – seek to GTA Kanifing LGA 100,000
eliminate sand mining, eliminate deforestation, stop z z z z
unapproved development and eliminate existing
unapproved development
3.3 Prepare action plans for Senegambia Tourism Centre and GTA Kanifing LGA Industry 500,000
clean, secure and maintain undeveloped areas of TDA 1 z z z z

3.4 Training of local tour guides with pilot programme at a GTA Community 50,000
location to be decided (potentially James Island and/or z z z z z z Tourism Industry
Jufereh)

103
 Project / Action Year Lead Partners Budget in
US$
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
3.5 Ninki Nanka Trail along the River Gambia – Local GTA ASSET members 100,000
Accommodation, Traditional Crafts, River Transport z z z z Village Communities
3.6 Festival Programme for Gambia to enhance tourism – GTA Tourism Industry 175,000
music, entertainment and culture z z z z z z z z
ASSET, NCAC
Local Associations
4. Quality in tourism establishments
4.1 Establishment of minimum standards for ‘tourist hotels’ GTA Technical assistance 150,000
and enforcement by licensing control; advise tour z z to be identified
operators of properties that are no longer licensed; review
of investment incentives for refurbishment
4.2 Review of all-inclusive policy via policy research and study Dept of State 40,000
tour z for Tourism &
Culture
4.3 Institute annual Gambia tourism awards GTA Tourism industry Sponsorship
z associations
5. Social issues
5.1 ‘Bumsters’: GTA LGAs and NGOs 300,000
• Devise and implement bumsterism action z z z z z z z z
programme including revenue earning activities for
bumsters e.g. beach allocations for retailing and
assistance with products for sale.
• Plan and implement bumster free areas especially at
the airport
6. Human Resource Development
6.1 Improved customer service and opportunities for young Gambia Hotel GTA 4,000,000
Gambians by upgrading The Gambia Hotel School to z z z z z z z z School
National Tourism Training Institute: plan and develop to
include hotel, cultural guides and bird watching guides
6.2 Training of trainers z z z z z z z GHS GTA 400,000
7. Responsible Tourism
7.1 Linkage of mainstream travel industry with community ASSET GTA 200,000
development and poverty alleviation z z z z z z z z Tourism Tourism Foundation

104
 Project / Action Year Lead Partners Budget in
US$
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Concern (UK)
8. Linkages
8.1 Secure the future of ‘Gambia is Good’ and develop other z z z z z z z z Concern 100,000
similar programmes Universal/other
NGO’s
9. Infrastructure
9.1 Management to prevent fire and speedy closure of z z z NAWEC LGAs 250,000
Bakoteh Solid Waste Dump
9.2 Rehabilitation of Kotu Wastewater Treatment Plant, z z NAWEC LGAs 150,000
including extension of the sewage system
9.3 Installation of a drainage system and interceptors at Kotu z z NEA NAWEC 30,000 (for
power plant to prevent oil spills and waste oil storage; TA to assess
initial one month study required main causes
of pollution
and provide
solutions)
9.4 Resolve reliable provision of electricity z z z z National
Agenda
9.5 Support and encouragement for construction and z z z z z z Private sector DOSTC, Ministry of To be defined
operation of a private health clinic available to tourists as Health
well as Gambians

105
Second Rank

The following projects are highly desirable in terms of product improvement, aimed at linking with private sector development in
improving product quality in order to secure higher spending visitors, with a more diversified clientele that can form a basis for the
progressive expansion of tourism into new areas and activities.

Project / Action Year Lead Partners Budget in

US$
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
3. Product Development
3.7 Information Centres z z z z GTA Industry 200,000
3.8 Beach Quality: ‘Blue Flag’ beach project employing z z z z GTA Kanifing LGA 100,000
bumster labour Environment
3.9 Prepare plans and implement Kololi Beach Park z z GTA Kanifing LGA 150,000
Industry
3.10 Prepare plans and implement Kololi Parkway and Bird z GTA LGA, Min of Agric, 100,000
Watching Centre Bird-watching Assoc.
3.11 Prepare plans and implement Bijilo Forest z GTA LGA 50,000
DOSTC
3.12 Prepare plans and implement Western River Trail z z z z GTA LGAs 50,000
3.13 Prepare and implement Tourism Signage Programme z z z z GTA LGAs 50,000
3.14 Prepare plans for other areas, as necessary z z z z z z z z GTA LGAs 125,000
3.15 Development of visitor centres at one or more heritage z z National Community 100,000
sites, to include revenue earning activities (retail, food & Council for Arts
beverage), working with communities – initially in Jufureh, and Culture Tourism industry
Banjul Heritage Trail and Fort Bullen
6. Human Resource Development
6.3 Tourism awareness programme z z z z z z z GHS GTA 500,000

106
 Project / Action Year Lead Partners Budget in
US$
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
7. Responsible Tourism
7.2 Encourage development of eco-beach and eco-‘bolong’ z z z z z z z z z GTA 100,000
lodges in South Coast and Western River Areas
8. Linkages
8.1 Institutional support to producer associations z z z z z z z z z Min. of Agric. GTA 200,000
9. Infrastructure
9.5 Construction of storm water drainage and control of runoff z z National
from developments adjacent to the beach to a standard Agenda
that safeguards the beach from erosion and the bathing
water from contamination
9.6 Control of waste burning in and around the TDA, followed z z z z National
by better management of domestic solid waste collection Agenda
and treatment
9.7 Green Hotel Programme z z GTA Industry 100,000
9.8 Back-up generators at NAWEC’s borewells z NAWEC 250,000
10. Environmental Management
10.1 Environmental Improvements z z z z z z z z z NEA DPWM 500,000

107
11.8 Monitoring and Control

The projects and the strategies have to be regularly monitored and we

propose that key measures of the success of the Master Plan should
include those presented in Figure 11.1.
Figure 11.1 – Monitoring the Five Year Action Plan

MEASURES OF SUCCESS

Gambian views Visitor satisfaction

from annual from annual visitor
resident survey survey

Tourist arrivals Hotel O/F and

but in WTO format RevPAR from
special analysis

To put this monitoring in place it will be necessary for GTA (working with the
Central Statistical Office - CSO) to establish:

• Tourist arrival statistics but in accord with World Tourism Organisation

(WTO) definitions and procedures; and
• Annual returns from the local hotel industry giving key performance
measures such as room occupancies, and revenue per available room.

It should also seek to put in place in due course an annual survey of visitors,
although there needs to be a mechanism in place to follow up the findings
where action is necessary to solve problems that are identified.

Such measures with key performance indicators will allow the TDMP to keep
on track or to be refined accordingly in the light of new information.

108
11.9 Commitment

For the Vision articulated in this Plan to be brought to fruition requires

political commitment, co-operation within Government and between
Government and the private sector. It requires change on the part of
institutions, both in terms of their technical capacity and in terms of an
increased recognition of how essential it is for them to work together
towards a common goal. It requires The Gambia’s tourism industry as
a whole to work together, including working with their existing foreign
partners, and to develop new partnerships and alliances.

Working in The Gambia’s favour is the relatively small size of the

country and its tourism industry. While such co-ordinated action is
particularly difficult to achieve in larger countries with higher
populations, it should be easier to bring about in The Gambia. Smaller
countries such as Singapore and Mauritius have shown how much can
be achieved by having a clear vision for tourism development that is
widely shared, and by a determination to bring change about to the
benefit of wider civil society and the population overall.

Given co-operation and co-ordination, with regular reviews of the progress

being achieved with adjustments to the action plan as required, The Gambia
should be able to see a new step forward in its tourism that makes it a
distinctive 21st century African destination, rather than one that is a copy of a
Mediterranean tourism destination of the last century.

109
ANNEXES

1 List of Technical Reports for the TDMP

2 Impact Assessment of All-Inclusive Tourism
3 Institutions
4 Indicators from Other Tourism Destinations

110
ANNEX 1 – LIST OF TECHNICAL REPORTS

Sector Expert
1 The Economic Impact of Tourism Victor Curtin
2 Air Access John Dawson
3 Visitor Survey (at the airport) David McEwen
4 Visitor Survey (at hotels) David McEwen
5 Marketing and Promotion John Pritchard
6 Product Development Brian Gurnett/Oliver Bennett
with Deloitte The Gambia
7 Physical Tourism Planning John Robinson
8 River Cruise Product Abou Jallow/Brian Gurnett
9 Agricultural Linkages Paul Guenette
10 Human Resource Development Larry Bowman
11 Tourism Related Social Factors Adelaide Sosseh
12 Cultural Tourism Adama Bah
13 Environmental Issues Raymond Colley
14 Parks Management Raymond Colley
15 Tourism Related Infrastructure Bruce Pollock
16 Tourism Legislation Ida Drameh

111
ANNEX 2 - IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF ALL-INCLUSIVE TOURISM

1. Introduction
The all-inclusive holiday concept refers to vacations where virtually everything
is included in a pre-paid price – from airport transfers, baggage handling,
government taxes, room, all meals, snacks, drinks and cigarettes, to the use of
all facilities, equipment and certified instructors. Even gratuities (tips and
service charges) and nightly entertainment can be included in the price. The
result is that visitors know in advance the cost of the majority of elements of
their holiday.

For the consumer, the all-inclusive holiday has brought financial certainty to
vacation planning, eliminating the risk (common with pre-paid bed and
breakfast packages) that the price of additional “extras” (airport transfers,
meals, cigarettes, drink, service charge, value-added tax, energy surcharges
and petrol) might turn out to be more than budgeted. With an all-inclusive
vacation, all financial decisions are largely pre-paid and pre-made. Therefore,
any extra spending on the holiday (for example on telephone calls, laundry
and shopping) is because guests want to, rather than because they need to.

2. Advantages and Disadvantages

The attraction of the all-inclusive concept lies in its value-for-money appeal to
consumers and the simplification of procedures and control that it offers
management. Travel agents also like to sell all-inclusives as they can earn
commissions on the whole package.

All-inclusive resorts also offer advantages to their employees. With higher year
round occupancy rates, the all-inclusive package ensures greater job stability
and security, and more tax revenue for Government.

The main criticisms of the all-inclusive concept have been directed at the
“enclave” type of tourism it engenders (more suited to the Caribbean where
the concept is most highly developed largely because of security concerns);
the lower potential for spending and linkages outside the hotel; and the
oftentimes poor quality of food (all-day buffets) that is available. Some critics
feel that, if widely adopted – especially by 4* and 5* hotels – the all-inclusive
product could further cheapen the image of the district as the quality of the
product, especially food and service standards, would inevitably deteriorate.

3. Government Policy
Following the introduction of all-inclusive packages in The Gambia, particularly
at the Sunwing Hotel and Palma Rima and subsequent comments from local
restaurant owners, tourist guides, and beach bar owners as well as from the
general public about discrimination against local people about the economic
and social impact of this new phenomenon type, the National Tourist Office
conducted a survey of the general public as well as tourism industry
stakeholders in order to assess whether or not the negative impacts of all-
inclusives outweighed the positive ones so as to enable the Secretary of State

112
for Tourism and Culture to make an informed decision on the policy to be
adopted vis-à-vis this new trend in tourism and international travel.

The question posed somewhat rhetorically was “what is the real income
retained in the national economy when a large proportion of earnings are
funnelled back to the multi national corporations, airlines, tour operators
themselves and the foreign-owned hotels offshore account in foreign
exchange”.

The study concluded that “the National Tourist Office cannot at this stage lend
its support to the introduction and operation of AI in The Gambia as practised
at the Sunwing hotel” 1 . The main objections appeared to be

• loss in sales tax

• zero multiplier effect
• the entrance fee charged for local residents (this appeared to be the most
controversial factor)

Following publication of the report, it is understood that the Government is now

opposed to the adoption of the all-inclusive concept in The Gambia.

“If the introduction of the all-inclusives in The Gambia had been preceded by proper
and forward planning and proper sensitisation of all stakeholders then it would not
have faced that resistance that it did. The public would have been made to
understand that the package is only an option among a broad range of alternatives
open to tourists some of whom would not have come to The Gambia if this “bargain
package” was not offered to them. Attracting this new type of tourists into the country
would have meant bringing more money into the country if hotels and tour operators
offering the package are locally owned and managed.” Technical Report 15, Tourism
Related Social Factors

4. Market Demand
Throughout the world, there is a growing move by hoteliers in resort
destinations in favour of the all-inclusive concept. This proportion is expected
to grow, partly because the market likes it and partly because hotels like it.

For The Gambia (which is heavily dependent on the British market), it is highly
significant that this market has warmed to all-inclusives more than any other
global market, perhaps with the exception of the USA. The number of all-
inclusive holidays taken by UK tourists rose from 170,000 in 1995 to 820,000
in 1998 and over one million in 2003, and now represents close to 10 percent
of all holidays taken by UK tourists. These numbers are expected to continue
to increase. According to a recent Mintel survey, value for money is the most
important factor in deciding to take an all-inclusive holiday. The next most
important reasons for choosing all-inclusives were that they allow people to
know how much they are going to spend in advance; they are good for
families; and they offer a wide range of facilities and entertainment.

1
Report on the Survey of the All-inclusive (A1) Phenomenon in The Gambia (The Gambia National
Tourist Office, December 1998),

113
5. Conclusions and Recommendations
There is a risk involved in The Gambia turning its back on what is now a
clearly established market preference (and not so fundamentally different from
the half-board – or even full-board – packages already offered by many of the
country’s tourist hotels and lodges). This could mean offering an important
advantage to its competitors. Consideration should be given to embracing this
and other new demand-driven developments while at the same time seeking
to mitigate negative impacts of all-inclusive tourism.

For example, it is possible using charge cards (as many hotels in the
Caribbean and elsewhere already do) to operate an all-inclusive system mixed
with the traditional half and full board packages which will also allow non-
residents to visit the hotel and enjoy and pay for whatever meals, drinks or
other facilities they choose to use (rather than be charged a fixed entrance fee
which proved the most contentious issue when previously adopted at the
Sunwing Hotel).

However, the all-inclusive product would not be suitable for all properties as a
minimum size of around 150 rooms seems to be necessary. This means that
bars and restaurants which have developed in the vicinity of hotels would still
be able to draw business from guests staying at smaller hotels or in
apartments, as well as guests from all-inclusive resorts wishing to sample
something different. All-inclusive resorts are only too ready to see their guests
going out for meals and drinks which have already been included in the
package price.

In addition, in some holiday destinations (for example Barbados) all-inclusive

resorts as well as conventional hotels offer their guests a ‘dine around’
package as part of the pre-paid price which enables them to dine out once
during their vacation a week at no extra cost.

Also, as already happens at some of the larger hotels in The Gambia, vendors
can be permitted to display and sell their craft on the hotel premises. Hotels
can go even a step farther by not themselves operating craft shops in
competition with local vendors.

The concept of the all-inclusive holiday adds another type of vacation, brings
more diversity to a destination and possibly opens up new markets.

114
ANNEX 3 - INSTITUTIONS

Overall Structure
Successful tourism development tends to require collaboration between
government and the private sector and collaboration within government, given
that tourism development is a cross departmental issue. It involves aspects
such as education, health, community development, physical planning,
transport and infrastructure.
Within The Gambia specific responsibility for tourism lies with the Department
of State for Tourism and Culture. The principal agency for the execution of
policy is The Gambia Tourism Authority.
Department of State for Tourism and Culture
The role of the Department of State, in relation to tourism, is primarily to
determine and promulgate policy in relation to the sector, to ensure that the
interests of the sector are represented within government and to promote
collaboration between all the stakeholders concerned. The Department is
thinly resourced for the tasks it has to undertake, given that they also
embrace a supervisory role in relation to the National Council for Arts and
Culture as well as The Gambia Tourism Authority.
The Gambia Tourism Authority (GTA)
GTA Powers
The GTA was established under the Gambia Tourism Authority Act, 2001.
The GTA took over a number of responsibilities previously held by the
Department of State for Tourism and Culture
The primary function of the GTA is to “market The Gambia as an attractive
tourist destination through the use of appropriate promotional and marketing
activities” Among the prescribed responsibilities in support of this primary
function are:
z promotion of The Gambia as a tourism destination
z declaration, development and upgrade of the Tourism Development
Areas
z tourism research including tourism statistics
z hotel classification
z licensing of tourism enterprises
z tourism training
z tourism awareness
The GTA has powers to establish outlet offices and, with the permission of the
Secretary of State, to impose levies for its services. It can appoint
committees to carry out specified functions on its behalf.
The Board of the GTA comprises eight people, a Chairperson from the private
sector, the Permanent Secretary of the Department of State, the Managing

115
Director of The Gambia International Airlines, three persons from the private
sector with experience in tourism and the Director General of the GTA. Ex
officio Board members are appointed by the President on the
recommendation of the Secretary of State. The Director General is appointed
by the President on the recommendation of the Secretary of State after
consultation with the Board.
There appears to be conflict in the exercise of the GTA’s powers in relation to
other legislation. Whilst its responsibilities have not been reduced its powers
and its revenue collection to carry these out have been curtailed as follows:
z powers to collect the tourism levy, actually being collected by the
Ministry of Finance;
z powers to collect revenue from rates in the TDA, where subsequent
legislation has returned rates to the local authority;
z powers to license tourism attractions, where power has again been
transferred to local government.
Structure
The GTA has five divisions under the Director General. These cover:
z Marketing
z Tourism Human Resource Development
z Development and Investment
z Quality and Licensing
z Finance and Administration
Total staff complement totals approximately 40 personnel.
The GTA has an office in The Gambia High Commission in London and
representation in Germany, Norway, Spain and Sweden.
Capacity
The GTA suffers from limited resources both in terms of human capacity and
in terms of financial resources. It appears to have been the intention at the
time of the Authority’s formation that funding would come at least to a degree
from the dedicated tourism levy. In the event, the GTA is dependent on
financing from the Ministry of Finance. It is also subject to public sector salary
constraints, which has the unfortunate effect of undue numbers of personnel
wishing to travel – for example, to attend travel trade fairs – in order to claim
per diems, effectively as a salary supplement. Such attendance may be a
mis-allocation of limited resources.
Role of the Private Sector
The private sector in The Gambia is represented via a varied range of
organizations. The Gambia Hotel Association plays a prominent role as does
the Association of Small Enterprises in Tourist (ASSET). That said, there is
no overall umbrella organisation for the tourism sector as exists in a number
of other African countries - for example, Kenya has the Kenya Tourism

116
Federation which brings together individual tourism sector associations to
provide a single voice on key issues, while Namibia has the Federation of
Namibia Tourism Associations (FENATA).
However, in 2005, a Tourism Stakeholders Marketing and Promotion Group
(TSMPG) was established, with sub-groups on product development, target
markets, advertising, trade and consumer fairs, investor incentives and
funding.
Tourist Board Best Practice
The establishment of an all-embracing Tourism Authority was ambitious. The
most common role of a national tourism organization is to focus on destination
marketing, with product development, licensing and human resource
development dealt with by other bodies. This has the clear advantage of
focusing the organisation on a single strand of activity.
That The Gambia has an organisation for tourism marketing and promotion
separate from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture in itself reflects industry
best practice. A number of countries still depend on Government Ministries to
undertake this task, an arrangement which has been widely demonstrated as
sub-optimal. The challenge is whether it is possible for the GTA to be
effective in marketing and promotion for The Gambia at the same time as
undertaking product development, licensing and human resource
development tasks.
Industry best practice can be demonstrated by a number of countries.
Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore are widely regarded as leading tourist
boards in the way they operate. In the UK the British Tourist Authority also
overlaps in foreign marketing with Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland
Tourist Boards, all of which market abroad with their own budgets, which
brings about confusion of roles. While these are all much larger and better
funded organizations than is the case in The Gambia, they illustrate some
general rules about national tourism organisations.
Australia: While Australia as a federal country exhibits special
characteristics, the lead body, the Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) is
widely recognised as a world leader in tourism marketing and promotion. It
has ten board members, eight of whom are drawn from the private sector, and
about 100 staff. The ATC takes primary responsibility for marketing Brand
Australia abroad. In 2000/2001 the ATC spent A$118.6 million (US$ 61
million) on its global activities, of which approximately A$89 million (75%) was
spent on marketing and promotion. While the majority of ATC’s funding
comes from government, industry and state/territorial governments contribute
matching funds to ATC co-operative campaigns; amounts vary from year to
year.
The ATC produces an annual report which details its activities and audit
report from the Auditor-General. The ATC prepares objectives, outcome
indicators and output indicators which allow its overall performance to be
measured. This is public information.
Key objectives are:

117
z to increase the number of visitors to Australia from overseas and
Australia’s share of international tourism;
z to maximise the benefits to Australia from overseas visitors through
increased inbound tourist expenditure, number of visitor nights and
geographic dispersal;
z to ensure that Australia is protected from adverse environmental and
social impacts of international tourism.

For each objective there is a series of outcome indicators and of output

indicators. An outcome indicator can be increase market share and an output
indicator can relate to consumer and/or trade marketing. For example an
output indicator can be a minimum number of appropriate media visits to
Australia as part of a Visiting Journalists Programme.
The Planning and Evaluation process used by the ATC is illustrated in the
diagram below.

Corporate Plan
- States corporate
objectives over a five- Outcome
year period, linked to
statutory objectives Indicators
- Outlines strategies:
global and regional
- Includes outlook for
international tourism into
Australia

Operational Plan
- Details specific plans
Output Indicators
and activities for a 1-
year period based on
corporate objectives and
strategies
- Specifies and allocates
resources

Project Plans
Details specific activities and Evaluation
resources and performance Criteria and
measures linked to overall
objectives Milestones

Performance
Individual
Management
Objectives
System
Identifies, monitors and
reviews individual
performance through the
ATC’s performance
management system

This shows how the 5-year plan for the ATC links into the annual plan, to
specific projects and to the performance management of individuals within the

118
organisation, as well as to the outcome indicators. These latter in turn relate
directly to the objectives.
Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Tourist Association has as its principal role the
marketing of Hong Kong abroad. Set up in 1957 by Government Ordinance, it
also acts as a conduit between the industry it represents and the government.
It has a Board of Management of 11 which is being expanded to 20 to provide
a broad representation of tourism industry interests. The Association is also
being re-named the Hong Kong Tourism Board, following a decision to phase
out its membership scheme. The staff is headed by an Executive Director
and her deputy, with a Finance and Administration Director and four General
Managers.
It publishes five year marketing plans to set out the HKTA’s global and
regional objectives and strategies, and also the key performance indicators
that the HKTA will use in evaluating the progress of the plan. The focus of the
last plan was on boosting tourism receipts through capturing the high-yield
segments of Hong Kong’s markets and on promoting new market segments
including new geographic markets such as the Middle East and India. The
dominant part of the budget of the HKTA comes from a Government
subvention derived from a hotel tax. The organisation publishes an annual
report which details its activities and provides full details of its audited
accounts.
Singapore: The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has a 12 person board of
directors, the Chairman and Chief Executive and 10 others, all but one of
whom come from the private sector. Three senior directors report to the CEO
and the audit function direct to the Chairman. The STB has adopted a vision
for the destination and also established an International Advisory Council
which comprises eight leading tourism figures from outside the Republic,
aimed at bringing international expertise to Singapore to interact with the local
industry leaders. The STB, as in Hong Kong, gains its income from a
dedicated tax on hotels, i.e. the more business it generates for Singapore the
more revenue it generates for itself. However, the STB is somewhat secretive
in relation to its financial picture; its accounts are not included in its annual
Tourism Year Book (which describes the Board’s activities) and the STB
declined to make even basic figures available to us for this report.

STB Mission Statement: Our purpose is to establish Singapore as a leading

force in global tourism and a unique and attractive destination, offering an
integrated tourism experience linked to regional development. We are valued
partners and pioneers of new frontiers of total tourism business. We promote
economic prosperity and enhance the quality of life in Singapore. We are an
organisation that makes a difference.

United Kingdom: The British Tourist Authority, like Singapore, has a 12

person board; five represent national tourist boards and the remainder are all
from the private sector. The Chief Executive is supported by a Deputy and six
separate departments. Unlike Singapore and Hong Kong, the BTA obtains its
prime source of funding from the government. There has been a long standing
struggle for the BTA to obtain what it regards as adequate funding. The BTA

119
sets specific performance targets annually; the results are published in its
annual report and accounts.
Other EU countries: National tourism organisations in the majority of EU
countries have government as their primary source of income. There are
some instances of revenues from dedicated taxation, such as in Portugal
where funding comes largely from a tax on gambling. Some obtain a
significant portion of their income from trading activities (as in Belgium,
Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland and Luxembourg). Income from
the private sector is also important in Netherlands and Ireland. Most typically
around a third of expenditure is on administrative overheads with the
remainder being spent on marketing & promotion or associated activities.
Tourism Authorities: In the majority of countries, the national tourism
organisation focused on marketing, with other activities such as product
development and training the responsibility of different organizations. In
Africa, for example, the responsibility of the Kenya Tourist Board is limited to
marketing and promotion; product development is the responsibility of the
Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife and of the Kenya Tourist Development
Corporation. There is also an EU financed Tourism Trust Fund, seeking to
support the development of community and smaller scale enterprises in
tourism. In Namibia, the newly established Namibia Tourism Board is
responsible for marketing, licensing and human resource development in
tourism, but not for other aspects of product development.
In Malta, a Tourism Authority was established in 1999 with the view of
bringing all tourism related activities under one roof under the overall aegis of
the Ministry of Tourism. Its functions cover marketing and promotion, human
resource development, product planning and development and enforcement
(including licensing). In 2004 an organizational review was undertaken as the
Authority was not perceived by government to be operating effectively.
During this review serious consideration was given to splitting up the Authority
into separate bodies with clear responsibilities for each body. In the event, it
was decided to undertake a major re-structuring, including the simplification of
the organisational structure and closure of most of the Authority’s foreign
offices, to achieve better effectiveness and value for money.
Tourism Development Corporations
Tourism Development Corporations are, in some countries, used as a vehicle
for the delivery of the development of specific areas of land for tourism. A
classic example is the Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC). BTDC
was set up in 1973 as a state-owned company to develop and manage 350
hectares of previously non-productive land as a Tourism Zone on the
southern tip of Bali, Indonesia. The BTDC has had total control over the
development of the Tourism Zone, without the kind of mixed responsibilities
that arise with the TDA’s in The Gambia. Resort sites were defined under an
overall master plan and infrastructure was built under a soft loan from the
World Bank. Design guidelines were established to ensure that all buildings
would be low rise, low density and in harmony with Balinese architectural
practices. An allied development was the establishment of a Hotel and
Tourism Management Training Centre to train staff for the resorts.

120
“Nusa Dua is the result of an innovative idea first applied in Indonesia: the
development and management of a resort complex by one supervisory body.
This makes the building procedure simpler and more cost-effective and it also
makes it easier to carry out policies protecting the local culture and
environment, to enforce standards of quality, and to ensure a coherent design
concept.” Nusa Dua, a template for success, BTDC

Development was slow to start, with the first resort not being opened until
1983 but then the momentum grew and the last of the ten resort properties
was opened in 1991 along with the Bali Golf and Country Club. The BTDC’s
role is now to manage the site, financed by its rental incomes, with activities
that include prevention of beach erosion, nature conservation, landscaping,
pest control and the strict supervision of every building project within the
resort to ensure that construction is on the basis of approved plans and
adheres to the BTDC’s design criteria, building code and local government
regulations. It is in the process of progressively obtaining Green Globe 21
certification.
The BTDC collaborates with the Nusa Dua Community Forum and also has a
programme of providing grant financing to small-scale entrepreneurs and
cooperatives elsewhere in Indonesia.
Other Tourism Zones have subsequently been established in Indonesia. In
general these have been less successful. The Lombok Tourism Development
Corporation, set up on a similar model on an island close to Bali, has been
dormant since 1999, with only one 4-star tenant hotel actually completed.
The BTDC has taken over the management and development of three other
Tourism Zones in Indonesia. These are in pioneering areas of the country
from a tourism point of view, without the established commercial success of
Bali, which formed the basis for the success of Nusa Dua itself.
Aspects of Best Practice
Aspects of international best practice in relation to national tourism boards
can be summarised as follows:
z A dedicated tourism marketing organisation with a Board which is
dominated by the private sector;
z A marketing plan which is discussed with the travel industry which the
Board is aiming to support;
z Operation to performance targets, which can be monitored by the
sponsoring ministry;
z A substantial budget which takes account of the particular
circumstances of each destination;
z Transparency in its operation, with as a minimum an annual report
which should contain information on the moneys received and
expended.

There also appears to be a link between the funding of tourism marketing via
dedicated taxation and success in tourism marketing. The Australian Tourist
Commission has received a part of its revenues through a component of the

121
airport departure charge, and in Hong Kong and Singapore funding comes via
dedicated hotel taxes. This gives the tourism board a direct incentive to
perform, i.e. the better it does the more money it gets. Of course, if tourism
receipts fall then so does the board’s income. A contrasting situation is in the
UK, where the British Tourist Authority seems to be in an incessant struggle to
secure government funds which arise from general taxation.
For each market there should be a clearly defined annual strategy with
performance indicators which show how the effort will be measured. This
should be a coherent component of an overall marketing strategy. IBest
practice is the kind of planning process that is implemented by the Australian
Tourist Commission, with clearly defined objectives and performance
measures. These form a coherent whole both for the organisation and for the
individuals within it.
As regards land development for tourism, the Bali Tourism Development
Corporation has shown the merits of a single authority having unambiguous
and unchallenged control over a Tourism Zone and over the allocation of land
within that zone, as well as of development control within a previously agreed
master plan and within clearly defined design guidelines. This model is
effectively the same as for urban development corporations elsewhere, tasked
with the development of specific areas of land, and earning revenues from the
rentals of developed land.
Options of the future for the GTA
There are four broad options for the future of the GTA:
z For the Authority to continue as prescribed under the 2001 Act, but with
a strengthened capability and stronger financial support;
z For the marketing and promotional activities to be divided from the
product development, licensing and human resource development
activities. An independent tourism marketing and promotion body
could be financed jointly by the public and private sectors;
z For the activities of the GTA to be returned to the Ministry of Tourism
and Culture;
z For an umbrella organisation to be established covering the private
sector and for marketing and promotional activities to be formally
transferred to this new body.
The Ministry of Tourism and Culture is short of human and financial resources
and it is not considered that any benefit would be achieved by returning the
functions of the GTA to the Ministry. Rather, the Ministry needs to be
strengthened so as to be in a better position to monitor and support the
activities of the GTA.
Transfer of marketing activities to a private sector organisation has appeal in
that the Tourism Stakeholders Marketing and Promotion Group has
demonstrated the capabilities that exist in the private sector. However, there
are few examples outside the USA of private sector run tourism organizations,
principally a reflection of a need for funding from general taxation or via
government from a dedicated tax.

122
On the business of international best practice, serious consideration should
be given to the option of dividing the marketing responsibilities of the GTA
from its other activities. The pros and cons of this option as against
maintaining these activities within the GTA are summarised below:

Continuation of GTA as an all
embracing tourism
organisation
Separation of GTA into two
different organisations
Advantages
• Potential for co-
ordination of activities
• Potential for private
sector drive and funding
for tourism marketing
Disadvantages
• Lack of focus
• Weak private sector
influence
• Requirement for new
legislation
• May result in product and
human resource
development receiving
inadequate attention

There is little doubt that while the GTA has been a step forward it has failed to
fulfill its potential. This appears to be a result of:
z Weaknesses in human capacity, in part a reflection of relatively low
public sector salaries;
z A role of the Board that fails to meet the standards of international best
practice, with insufficient independence of action and insufficient
independent private sector representation;
z Legislative confusion, including in relation to the GTA’s responsibilities
for the TDA and to the collection of the tourism levy;
z Inadequate financing and inappropriate overseas representation.
International best practice suggests that the Board must be representative of
the different interests of the private sector and accountable to its
stakeholders, both government and the private sector. This latter
accountability is most commonly achieved by the different tourism industry
associations being able to decide on their representation independent of
political influence. Equally on the basis of international best practice the
Director General should be appointed by the Board.
Conclusion and Recommendations
A successful tourism organisation is fundamental to the future of tourism in
The Gambia. Continuation of the GTA as it is of 2005 will not meet the
country’s needs.
The choice is whether to seek to strengthen the GTA on the basis of the
structure that exists as of 2005 or whether to divide it into a marketing
organisation and one that deals with the TDA, licensing and human resource
development. A possible variant is to return the latter functions to a
strengthened Department of State for Tourism and Culture.
Creative and positive marketing does not mix well with physical development
and licensing enforcement in the same organisation. Each require very
different skills. Third parties and staff are confused by the combination of

123
police /legal controls with marketing promotion. Enforcement sits better in a
Ministry and promotion in a private sector body.
If The Gambia was starting from a clean slate, there is much to recommend a
tourism organisation that focuses on marketing in line with international best
practice, and a Tourism Development Corporation responsible for the TDAs
and for other functions including licensing. This would allow the GTA or
whatever the reformed organisation is called to focus on its prime
responsibility of marketing The Gambia as an attractive tourist destination and
in doing so to forge a strong partnership with the private sector, with the
Tourism Development Corporation given full control over the planning and
management of the TDAs.
However, the GTA exists and has had only a short history. To re-structure the
whole system after such a short time is bound to be disruptive. This argues
for an effort to strengthen the capacity of the GTA. If this course is pursued it
does need to be accompanied by a series of measures:
z Capacity building for GTA personnel, including training that relates to
best practice in national tourism organizations;
z Reform of the financing of the GTA so that it has the financial
resources with which to function effectively;
z Clarification of the legal position of the GTA, particularly in relation to
Tourism Development Areas;
z Independence of operation whereby the GTA is able to pay sufficient
salaries to be able to attract high level personnel with strong
commercial experience who are able to act within a politically
influenced environment.

At the same time, the Department of State for Tourism and Culture should be
strengthened so that it has the capacity to define performance targets jointly
with the GTA, and to monitor performance against these targets. The GTA
should have complete freedom of action in achieving the agreed targets. It is
particularly critical that the Board is independent and properly represents the
interests of the private sector. To this end the Secretary of State should
ensure that the Board members that are appointed should be representative
of the private sector and it is the Board who effectively appoints the Director
General. Should the Gambia Tourism Authority Act require amendment to
achieve these ends, then this should be done. Should any donor or soft loan
organisation decide to support capacity building within the GTA, then its
independence of action should be a pre-requisite for any such financial and
technical support.

The GTA should be assisted to develop a 3-5 year strategic plan with a route
map of how it should go about achieving its objectives. To implement this it
needs to have a modestly sized staff who are clear about what it is to be
achieved and how this will be done. As many as possible of its activities
should be outsourced on the basis of transparent tendering procedures where
the outsourcing is to commercial enterprises.

124
To place the GTA on a sounder financial basis it is vital that the tourism levy is
collected by, or allocated to, the GTA in its entirety (less reasonable collection
costs if collected on its behalf). In turn the GTA needs to demonstrate to
Government and private sector stakeholders that the funds are being
collected transparently and that these funds are being effectively utilized.
Prompt public annual reporting is a key element of this. This committed
allocation gives the GTA a direct incentive to perform, in line with international
best practice.
If this is achieved, then (and only then) the levy could be increased from £5
per person to £10 per person or €15 (at 2005 prices). If this is done, it is
essential that 100% of this additional revenue goes to the GTA without any
reduction in its financial resources from other sources. Sufficient notice
should be given to foreign tour operators to allow them to inform customers
accordingly.
The non-collection of the levy during the summer season should be dropped
as it serves no useful purpose in relation to encouraging visits, not least as
most customers do not know either that there is any levy, or that it is not
collected, since standard tour operator literature does not mention this.

‘One-Stop Shops’
A considerable number of countries offer ‘one-stop shops’ to encourage
investment in the tourism sector, or to encourage foreign direct investment in
tourism in general. These institutions offer support to the investor once his
project has been approved. They organise a swift approval process on behalf
of the investor and also obtain all necessary permits working with the investor.
The investor deals with only one agency, rather than having to deal with
different Ministries and other approval agencies direct.

The Gambia Investment Promotion And Free Zones Agency (GIPFZA)

administers The Gambia Investment Promotion Act, signed into law in 2001.
The act sets out the administrative and legal requirements for investing in The
Gambia and makes provisions for business incentives, protection against
compulsory acquisition, settlement of disputes and the transfer of funds. The
ultimate objective is to promote The Gambia as an investment haven by:

z providing an attractive business environment and incentives for

business activities in The Gambia;
z establishing a "one-stop shop" for investors, where every government
department, agency, or other relevant body, cooperates
z to provide permits, exemptions, authorizations, licenses, land, or other
accommodation required to establish a business enterprise;
z attracting, promoting, and increasing the manufacture of goods and
trade in goods and services;
z coordinating, promoting, and facilitating investment in The Gambia; and
z advising government on investment policy and related matters.

125
As the capacity of the GTA is strengthened, it will need to work with GIPFZA
to ensure that a strong and effective one-stop capacity for appropriate tourism
investment is in consistent operation.

126
ANNEX 4 - INDICATORS FROM OTHER TOURISM DESTINATIONS

The destinations in mind before choosing The Gambia, as identified in the

Airport Survey undertaken for the Plan, are shown in the table below:
Other destinations in mind %
before choosing Gambia (Main Winter Season)
Canary Islands 25.5
Goa 15.7
Egypt 19.2
Caribbean 12.3
Thailand 8.9
South America 8.3
East Africa 7.6
Spain 4.9
Source: Airport Visitor Survey, 2004

These destinations are where package tours plan a particularly strong role
and are likely to be featured by similar foreign tour operators as operate to
The Gambia. They are also strong winter sun destinations. The majority offer
a wider range of accommodation than The Gambia, including quality self-
catering accommodation and all-inclusives. For the most part this
accommodation is more modern than that to be found in The Gambia, with a
greater presence of internationally branded hotels – especially in the case of
the Egyptian Red Sea resorts.
More up market destinations such as those in the Indian Ocean are offer a
higher quality product at considerably higher prices. Nonetheless, there are
lessons to be learnt.
Mauritius
Key characteristics of Mauritius are:
z Population of a smaller size but with a smaller territorial area than The
Gambia
z Flying time from Europe is twice as long to The Gambia (about 12 hours)
z Total of 718,000 tourists in 2004; two thirds from Europe with low seasonality
z Average length of stay 10 nights, US$1,000 spend per visitor
z France provides 210,000 visitors and the UK 93,000 (or about twice as many
as to The Gambia, mainly on packages)
z Scheduled service only policy, supported by demand from business travellers
and from those visiting friends and relatives
z Range of accommodation from the luxury to self catering, including a growing
number of hotels offering an all-inclusive product
z High margins with no conflict with foreign tour operators (some are owned by
Mauritian companies)
z Tourists ‘relax’, average about 1 excursion each
z In the UK market, Mauritius is an aspirational destination that attracts
celebrities and sports stars, encouraging others to travel especially for
honeymoons (and weddings)
z High product quality – some of the best in the world
z High quality supporting infrastructure e.g. airport

127
z High levels of marketing spend and activity by Mauritius Tourism Promotion
Authority, by principal hotel groups and by ground handlers
z Vigorous product development e.g. Tourism Plan; new Tourism Authority
z First class Hotel School
z Not chasing ‘eco-tourism’ or community operated tourism

Among the lessons that can be learnt from Mauritius are that:
z A high level of product quality enables relatively high prices to be
charged, which enables investment to be made in maintaining that
product quality;
z This quality is supported by investment in highly trained staff, via both
the private and public sectors;
z There is recognition of why people come to Mauritius (essentially to
relax) and the focus is on meeting this need, including via added value
services such as spa facilities;
z Destination marketing is the responsibility of a separate organisation
from product development and training;
z Despite the emphasis on product quality, there is a trend for conversion
to all-inclusive resorts;
z Accommodation, including self-catering, can be reserved direct via the
web.
Kenya Coast
The Kenya coast is, like The Gambia, primarily a charter package holiday
destination. While it is able to offer safaris as an add-on, the emphasis is on
relaxing accommodation in catered hotels. Rates paid by foreign tour
operators to hotel owners are often very low. As a result, maintenance and
refurbishment have tended to be neglected in some hotels, resulting in a
spiral of decline. This has been exacerbated by terrorist activities that led to
negative travel advisories. Vigorous marketing, led by the Kenya Tourism
Board and supported by the EU, has encouraged a recovery and the
introduction of direct scheduled air services from the UK to Mombasa.

Kenya has demonstrated the benefits to be derived from a Tourist Board that
is focused on marketing and which is part funded by a dedicated levy on all
hotel and catering establishments. Its web-site is an award-winning one, and
is substantially self-financed via advertising. It has also shown the benefit of
investment in tourism training, with Utalii College being one of the best
dedicated tourism training institutions in Africa.
Kenya is seeking to achieve a gradual change from mass to ‘premier’ tourism
at the Coast by increasing demand through marketing recovery plans;
assessment of hotel properties to see which would benefit from re-
furbishment; facilitating the provision of soft loans for re-furbishment to three-
star standard or higher; and introducing a moratorium on new development
unless high standard and conformity with planning policy are assured. As one
of the few other tour operator-driven tourism destinations in sub-Saharan
Africa, The Gambia can learn from this Kenyan experience.

128
Namibia
Among the characteristics of Namibia from a tourism point of view are:
z Although the country has a 3,000 mile coastline, climatic features result in it
being primarily a touring destination with a variety of product;
z Small scale enterprises are being encouraged, with the development in 2005
of the country’s first community owned tourism lodge (managed by the private
sector);
z It has benefited from an EU funded tourism development programme from
1992 to 2005 that has included both capacity building and facility
development;
z The newly established Namibia Tourism Board covers marketing, licensing
and tourism human resource development (but not product development) and
is part funded by a dedicated levy on tourism enterprises;
z A hotel school operates as part of the Polytechnic of Namibia, with new
facilities funded as part of the EU funded tourism development programme;
z The Federation of Namibia Tourism Associations (FENATA) works actively
with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and with the Tourist Board.

Among the lessons that can be learnt are:

z The benefits to be derived from public-private sector co-operation, and
of an umbrella organisation that represents the interests of the private
sector to government;
z Benefits from donor support in capacity building and in investment
support to the tourism sector;
z Effective tourism destination marketing including via tour operator
partnership schemes, professional foreign representation and coherent
destination branding.

129