Mr. Nyang,
  Thanks for updating us on the Cultural week. I am very impressed with how much maturity is shown by Gambians in Sweden to have a Gambian government official visit you and address the group. Mostly, they are met with insults and a few disgruntled of us.
  I hope this can be foot steps for the rest of the Diaspora to follow. I wish you all the best and hope you guys have a very successful cultural week celebrations.
   
  Alieu

Tejan Nyang <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
  KEY NOTE ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE SECRETARY OF STATE
FOR TOURISM AND CULTURE ON "THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT
OF TOURISM ON THE GAMBIA"

The Chairman, 
Members of the Gambian Association
Friends of the Gambia
Distinguish Ladies and Gentlemen

I have the singular honor and pleasure to be
Associated with this august gathering as it accords me
the golden opportunity to share some pertinent
Thoughts with you on this very important theme:! The
Impact of tourism on the socio-economic development of
The Gambia.!


Mr. Chairman I will like to first of all give a little
Background as to how tourism started in The Gambia. 
A Swedish national by the name of Bertil Harding
Together with Vingresser, in 1965, brought 300 Swedish
visitors to The Gambia. They marketed The Gambia as an
exotic sun and beach resort where rich Swedes could
spend the European winter months to escape from the
cold. The months of October to April were considered
to be appropriate for tourism. By 1966-67 tourist
arrivals increased by 100 percent. The Government of
the Gambia, which at that time, relied mainly on the
groundnut crop to earn foreign exchange, saw the need
to exploit the foreign exchange earning capacity of
the tourism sector. Hence by 1970, the Government
designated 1000 meters of the Gambia’s beach as the
Tourism Development Area (TDA). This development led
To the increase of hotel beds from 162 in 1965/66 to
300 beds in 1970/71. The number of visitors increased
from 300 tourists in 1965/66 to 2600 visitors in
1970/71. However, because the country was not a major
destination, it did not attract much foreign direct
investment. Tourism was seen mainly as a government
enterprise. There were few hotels and these were built
through government investment, with partnership from
investors such as the Commonwealth Development
Cooperation and Vingressor.

This initiative brought interest and later gave rise
To the development of hotels through the involvement
Of the private sector. Realizing the potentials in the
sector, the Government provided incentives in the form
of tax holidays and duty waivers to potential
Investors. Today there are about 35 hotels, over 6000
hotel beds, and an average of 100, 000 visitors
Annually. 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, tourism is
Recognized as one of the Gambia’s principal engines of
growth, and an important contributor to the attainment
of poverty reduction. The sector ontributes between
16-18 percent of the country’s GDP; it provides
employment to over 20, 000 Gambians, in the formal and
non-formal sectors; it is our biggest foreign exchange
earner- in 2004 it fetched US$ 40 million; in the same
year, it contributed D200 million to government
revenue.

Tourism and its Impact on Gambian society: 

Tourism as you are all aware has mixed impacts. On a
positive note, tourism provides jobs, brings foreign
exchange and provides income to support local
development. It can also directly support local
industry and encourage communities to place greater
emphasis on environmental protection. For instance at
its initial stage tourism encouraged women to learn
various trades in the form of tie and batik which in
effect made them bread winners and providers of the
daily needs of their families. It is indeed through
this dynamic trade that we have seen our women folk
take on greater responsibility of paying for their
children’s school fees both locally and abroad,
building houses and providing fish money for their
families and thus making them equal partners with the
men in contributions towards the welfare of the
family.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and Gentlemen, it is also worth
Mentioning that most of the women folk initially
Engaged in the tie and dye business were uneducated
But surprisingly they were, with time, able to master
The languages of the visitors, as a result of their
Interaction with them. With a little encouragement and
through enrolment in literacy classes some of these
women were not only able to speak foreign anguages;
they also acquired writing skills. We are therefore
glad that tourism in a way also contributed to the
promotion of adult education. 

Indeed, empirical evidence has shown that when two
cultures clash/meet they are bound to influence each
other. This can either be positive of negative.
Although Gambian society has benefited a lot from
tourism, we have also seen a number of negative
impacts, especially with the youth sub sector. Being a
very vulnerable group the tendency is for youth to
abandon indigenous ways of living in favor of the
borrowed western culture- this is more apparent in the
way they dress, marriage culture, begging among
children and prostitution among others. 
Mr. Chairman, the list is not excursive as far as I
Know, but I am limiting my self to some of these
problems and hopefully some of the other problems will
form part of our discussion after my remarks. 
I am sure that our visitors have also been affected
by their interaction with their Gambian hosts and
friends in a number of ways. 

Mr. Chairman, ladies and Gentlemen, if I may go back
to the economic impact of tourism, like most other
tourist destinations in the developing world, the
Gambia, does not benefit from tourism as much as it
should. A lot of revenue is lost through leakages such
as:


. Importation of foodstuff, drinks and other
essential commodities
• Repatriation of expatriate salaries
• Package tour receipts that do not reach The Gambia
• Expenditure on advertisements, promotion and
publicity, among others.

It is estimated that significant leakages of gross
visitor expenditure due to imports and payments
retained outside the Gambia is estimated to be D218
million. These results show that we need to be more
proactive in addressing the leakages of the tourism
sector, if we are to maximize gains out of it.

It is also important to note that Gambian tourism
depends on seasonal packaged tours even though The
Gambia is an all-year round tourist destination.
However, it is disheartening to note that a
significant percentage of package tour operators
money, which include fares, accommodation and board,
stays outside in the country of origin of the tourist.
We are also cognizant of all the factors that
contribute to the leakages in tourism revenue, which
prevent us from maximizing the benefits of tourism. 
These were the reasons, among others, that led to the
commissioning of a tourism development master plan
study by The Government of The Gambia. The study’s
objective was to review and develop the sector in its
entirety. It has now proposed various policies and
strategies that would guide future development plans
as well as enhance the socio-economic, cultural and
ecological impact of tourism.

In addition to the Master Plan Study, the Department
of State for Tourism and Culture has also developed a
national Ecotourism Strategy, whose aim is to ensure
that the benefits of tourism trickle down to the
communities, thereby benefiting the majority of the
Gambian people thus contributing towards poverty
alleviation . This will be done by encouraging
investors to develop in partnership with the local
communities’ eco-lodges and -camps in the rural areas.
It is expected that this will not only help provide
employment, and enhance the income earning capacity of
rural families, but shall also help reduce the
rural-urban migration. 

Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I
have in the foregone exposition, attempted to
demonstrate the impact of tourism on the Gambian
economy. However, as has been pointed out, even though
the Gambia derives tremendous benefit from tourism, a
lot of what should have accrued to the country remains
outside. The Gambia Government, through my Department
of State, is intensifying efforts via policies and
programmed to ensure that Gambians derive much more
from this very lucrative trade. Examples that can be
highlighted include the Bengdulas, craft-markets,
Beach Bars, Ground Handlers, Fruit & Juice Sellers,
and Tourist Guide Scheme were all initiatives meant to
offer Gambians a stake in the industry. Other
innovations include the Association of Small Scale
Enterprises in Tourism (ASSET), The Responsible
Tourism Partnership (RTP) and the ‘Gambia is Good’
these Project are all seeking to achieve
sustainability and more equitable distribution of the
tourism cake At the same time, we also continue to
improve and develop the Gambian product, and to
intensify our marketing and promotion strategy. All of
these, we belief, will help make the Gambia more
marketable thereby boosting the number of visitors,
which we hope will help increase tourism income. At
the end of the day our dream is to utilize the
economic benefits of tourism to alleviate poverty. 

Last but not the least , your associations
contribution in promotinig Gambian culture as an
annual event is highly appreciated by my Department of
State for Tourism and Culture and the entire
Government and people of the Gambia. Let me assure you
of my Department continued support and cooperation . 

On this note Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and
Gentlemen HE. President Alh Dr Yaya A.J.J .Jammeh has
asked me to convey to you all on his behalf and the
entire Gambian people a happy and joyous 20th cultural
week celebration. I thank you all for your attention.






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