Gambia Struggles to Get on Tourists' Map
In West Africa,
Sun, Sand, Peace
Remain Tough Sell
By DANIEL MICHAELS
Wall Street Journal
March 10, 2008; Page A6
BANJUL, Gambia -- As foreign investment and travel in Africa surge, many
countries see a golden opportunity to market themselves as tourist destinations.
But even for states like The Gambia -- a peaceful coastal land of sun and
sand -- luring visitors is a struggle.
Growth in travel to Africa has outpaced the world average in recent years.
Sub-Saharan African tourism in 2007 grew 4.2%, compared with world-wide growth
of 3.9%, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, or WTTC, a trade
group that analyzes industry trends. Several factors contributed: New
airline routes from Europe, Asia and the Middle East have generated more traffic;
several countries recently at war, such as Algeria and Mozambique, have
returned to relative peace; longtime tourist magnets such as South Africa, Morocco
and Egypt are marketing themselves aggressively around the world, attracting
attention to the entire continent.
For Gambia, Africa's smallest country by area, tourism offers big economic
hopes. The country's main export is ground nuts, and most of its 1.5 million
people get by on money sent home by relatives living overseas, economists say.
Gambia lacks oil or precious minerals, so tourism is seen as vital to the
country's future economic development.
"Gambia's oil could be tourism," says Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president of
the WTTC.
But the country still has far to go. With the exception of one big new hotel
operated by Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, a unit of Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Worldwide Inc., Gambia lacks significant tourism infrastructure, such as
resorts, fine restaurants or upmarket safari operators. Facilities remain limited
to a handful of low-rise beach hotels not far from the capital's sleepy
airport.
While Gambian politics are more stable than in many African countries, the
government is dogged by human-rights issues. The U.S. government and Amnesty
International have accused the regime of rigging elections and persecuting
political opponents. Gambian officials deny the charges.
In Kenya, widespread violence following December's contested election is
expected to wipe out that country's annual income from tourism this year,
including from the lucrative safari industry. The country's $3 billion tourism
industry accounted for 11% of its gross domestic product in 2007, according to
the WTTC.
In Gambia, a mere sliver on the Atlantic coast, most tourists are Northern
Europeans seeking wintertime sun. While that has limited tourism income, it
also means the country hasn't been stigmatized as a mass-market beach resort
like parts of Mexico or Spain's Mediterranean coast. Promoters say Gambia's
undeveloped economy may be one of its biggest assets.
"We still see this as a virgin land with high potential for tourism
development," says Kabila Senghore, director general of the Gambian Tourism Authority.
The new Sheraton here, which aspires to be West Africa's finest hotel, shows
the potential. The $40 million beachfront complex, completed last year,
offers bungalows, a conference center and an infinity pool nestled among giant
baobab trees.
General manager Jennifer Buhr says she is offering wedding and honeymoon
packages, marketing the center for international conferences and hoping to
develop a shopping mall, tennis courts and a golf course on the property. A spa
slated to open soon "will help bring up the tourism level a notch," she said.
But simply reaching Gambia can be a challenge, because there are few direct
flights or easy connections from outside Africa. The country's sole private
airline, Slok Air International, has struggled to operate one plane.
"Air access to Banjul is a national priority," says Lamin Sanyang, managing
director of state-owned Gambia International Airlines Ltd., which has no
planes.
The WTTC estimates that travel and tourism account for roughly 17% of
Gambia's GDP -- because there is so little else to the country's economy. For
tourism to significantly boost Gambia's economy, the sector must double to almost
40% of GDP, a level comparable to Caribbean and Southeast Asian tourist
destinations, Mr. Baumgarten says. He bases that assessment on an analysis done by
management-consulting firm Accenture and British economic-analysis firm
Oxford Economics.
According to the WTTC, 80% of the economic activity and jobs created by
tourism world-wide are in small and medium-size businesses, such as taxis,
restaurants and tour guides. Profits from such outfits stay in a local economy and
create related jobs in food processing, construction and crafts. Mr.
Baumgarten says that Gambia's local operations aren't yet strong enough to be
self-sustaining.
Global tourism giants like hotel chains and airlines, meanwhile, have a more
limited impact. They generate relatively few jobs in remote locations and
usually transfer profits back to their home country.
Still, it is often brand-name chains that draw visitors from rich countries
to new and distant destinations, so travel-industry managers in Gambia hope
more will arrive.
"It's good Sheraton came because it's a recognized brand," says Christian
Hermans, a manager at Belgium's Brussels Airlines, who spent more than two
decades in Africa with the carrier and its predecessor, Sabena. Brussels Airlines
is one of very few scheduled European carriers serving Gambia, although
several British and Scandinavian charter carriers offer flights during Europe's
winter.
One key to moving upmarket, say tourism specialists, is offering visitors
something unusual. Mr. Senghore at the Gambian Tourism Authority said the
country is working to promote ecotourism, to take advantage of the country's
undeveloped wetlands along the Gambia River, which draw almost 600 species of
birds.
But Gambia's annual tourism-promotion budget is only around $300,000.
"That's not much," said Mr. Senghore. "If we had more resources to market, we could
attract more visitors."
**************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms, and advice on AOL Money &
Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolprf00030000000001)
いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
|