integrating tourism to the productive sectors in the gambia

7/26/2019 Integrating Tourism to the Productive Sectors in the Gambia

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Montreux September 2004

COMPETITIVENESS THROUGH PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP:SUCCESSES AND LESSONS LEARNED

Integrating Tourism to the ProductiveSectors in The Gambia

A COUNTRY PAPERCONTRIBUTED BY

THE GAMBIAN STRATEGY TEAM


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TOURISM AND THE GLOBAL TREND

Tourism is one of the leading industries in the world in terms of employmentgeneration and promotion of linkages with other sectors of a countrys economy. The tourismindustry generates an estimated 11 per cent of Global Domestic Product, employing 200million persons (WTO 2001). It has huge potential for the promotion of investment andinfrastructural developments. 940 million persons are consumers of the product annually(WTO 2000). This figure is expected to double by the year 2020 according to predictions bythe World Tourism and Travel Council in 2001. In the year 2000 alone, the tourism productprovided 550 billion dollars of profit (WTO 2000). According to international tourist statistics,

Africa has only 4 per cent of the share of total international tourist arrivals. In many Africancountries, extensive public and private investments are being made to develop the tourismsector. According to the World Tourism Organisation world international tourism receipts in2000 were $475.8 billion while Africas share was $10.7 billion Europe and America combinedreceived $367.9 billion (WTO database August 2001).

Two billion people in the world live on less than one dollar per day. (UNDP HDR,1997) 340 million Africans are considered to be living in abject poverty (NEPAD 2001). In TheGambia, according to the participatory poverty assessment survey conducted in 1999/2000,most rural communities attributed an increase in poverty levels to low crop yields because ofsoil infertility, lack of financial inputs and equipment. In the urban areas, poverty is mostlyattributed to unemployment (The Gambia Human Development Report 2001). Due to therelatively low level of crop yield in agriculture and unemployment the poor constitute 55 percent of households and 69 per cent of the population. 40 per cent of households in the greaterBanjul area; 46 per cent in other urban areas and 70 per cent in the rural areas are below theoverall poverty line. 37 per cent of the population are destitute. 82 per cent of them live in therural area. It is evident that if any advancement in the lives of the poor is to be made in the21

stcentury, pro-poor and anti poverty strategies must be evolved in all sectors of human

development so as to wage an effective and sustainable campaign to reduce poverty.

Various strategies have been adopted to deal with economies of countries, whichdepend mainly on primary products and less on value added manufactured goods forgeneration of foreign exchange and enhancement of employment and income. The inherentstructural imbalances which have led to poverty and indebtedness in most African countrieslike The Gambia, need to be addressed.

The IMF has intervened in many countries to provide enhanced structural adjustmentfacilities, to enable them to cope with balance of payment problems, due to an increase in thecost of imported goods and the depreciation in earnings from primary products. However,despite the cooperation with the World Bank, poverty level continues to escalate. This has ledto the movement from structural adjustment facilities to the introduction of a poverty reductionfacility to address the social dimension of adjustment.

It is a widely held view that African countries must engage in structural adjustmentand improve their political environment in order to attract foreign direct investment. Reviving

trade is considered by many African countries as integral or imperative to Africas economicturn around, as well as the promotion of fair trading practice without which the revival of tradeis inconceivable. Therefore, all those who are interested in Africas economic developmentand the eradication of poverty must identify and weigh the potential of all sectors in theeconomies of our respective countries and harness them to combat poverty andmarginalisation.

.In The Gambia, it is indicated that tourism contributes between 6.25 per cent GDP

(Budget Speech 2000) and 18 per cent of GDP (Presidential Address, State Opening ofNational Assembly, 1999 legislative year) and that it provides 10,000 people with jobs. Takinginto consideration that the formal sector, comprising the government, the parastatals andprivate companies, employs only 11 per cent of the labour force (Gambia HDR 2001) and thatthe government is the major employer, tourism would account for one fifth of the labour force

in the formal sector. This sector has potential for employment generation, macroeconomicdevelopment and can enhance poverty alleviation. How to develop the sector has been amajor preoccupation. Many reports have been written on strategy or policy for tourism


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development as well as its economic, social, cultural and environmental or ecological impact.Surveys have been conducted with the sponsorship of Department for InternationalDevelopment (DFID). What is absent is the summation of all the known and relevant findingsinto a holistic framework, which would enable us to know how tourism has benefited orimpacted negatively on the country and its people. Tourism offers immense possibilities totransfer wealth from north to the south and from the rich to the poor through fair trade andpro-poor initiatives. However, despite this assumption it is starkly evident that the gapbetween North and South and the rich and poor is increasing.

THE EVOLUTION OF TOURISM AND THE GAMBIAN ECONOMY

Tourism was identified as a potential source of resources to foster development asthe colonialists prepared to hand over the government to indigenes during last phase of thecolonial period.

Tourism began to evolve as a sector for socio-economic development in 1965 when300 tourists visited The Gambia (Tourism statistics, 1974). A Swedish companyVingressor/Club 33 initiated the venture. They marketed The Gambia as an exotic sun andbeach resort where rich Swedes could spend the European winter months to safeguardthemselves from the cold. The months of October to April were considered to be appropriatefor tourism. By 1966/67 the tourist arrivals increased by 100 per cent. The government of TheGambia, which relied mainly on the groundnut crop to earn foreign exchange, saw the need toexploit the foreign exchange earning capacity of the tourism sector. Hence by 1970, thegovernment designated 1000 metres of the beach stretching from Kololi to Kartong as theTourism Development area. Hotel beds increased from 162 in 1965/66 to 300 beds in1970/71. The number of visitors increased from 300 tourists in 1965/1966 to 2601 visitors in1970/71. Compared to the projection of 150,000 tourists a year under the national policy fortourism developments in 1995, 2601 tourists would appear like a rain drop in the ocean.However, what is of significance is that the Gambia government had identified tourism as asector for the diversification of the economy and had started to engage in limited sectoralplanning through the allocation of an area for tourism development.

The small private sector and narrow tax base did not permit for much investment inthe infrastructural development for tourism without relying on World Bank loans. The WorldBank had established, the International Development Association (IDA) to provide credit tocountries, which could not rely on the open market for bank loans. Its relatively concessionaryloans enabled the government to launch an infrastructure and tourism development project in1972 (D.J. Jeffries Associates, 1992). UNDP and IDA assistance provided for the building of aroad network linking the hotels, the airport and the main urban centres in 1972. The limitedforeign direct investment left many countries like The Gambia with little option other than torely on the public sector to acquire loans to promote infrastructural development. From 1972to 1975 the level of public investments in the economy increased. The government developedits first five-year development plan 1975/76 to 1980/81 where public investment doubled theamount that was initially budgeted. Priorities were given to agriculture, public utilities,transports and communications sectors. 144 million dalasis were projected to finance the first

five-year development plan. The final expenditure amounted to 392.3 million dalasis.

Table One: First Five Year development Plan 1975/6-1980/1: Allocation of funding todifferent sectors

Sector Amount in Dalasi (millions)

Agriculture 57.4Transport and Communication 150Industry 3.9Housing 83Public utilities 41Education 32.1

Tourism 16.8Health 7.7


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The small investments in agriculture and industry compared to the service sector lefta narrow tax base and a small processing base. This created a high dependence on theexport of one crop, groundnut which coupled with a small industrial base, gave rise to highdependence on imports and loans. The imbalance, due to the excessive investment inservices, without a proportional growth of the productive base became apparent by the end ofthe plan. .

Since the inception of the sector, the National Tourism Development Strategy hadlargely concentrated on the need to increase the volume of arrivals irrespective of thespending patterns of package tourists. Package tours involving chartered flights constitute themainstay of the tourism industry in The Gambia. Most of the immediate costs on the touristgo to pay for airfare and hotel accommodation, which is paid for prior to leaving their homecountry. When tourism started to expand in the 1970s and 1980s, the number of touristsvisiting The Gambia could not be compared with a destination like Bermuda which couldattract 339,782 visitors in 1972. The 2601 tourists who visited The Gambia in 197I did notneed many hotels. The country was not a major destination. Therefore, it did not attract muchforeign direct investment. Tourism was mainly a government enterprise. There were fewhotels. They did not have to depend on tour operators to get customers. Government tookinterest in investing in the building of hotels either by itself or in partnership with foreigninvestors. This is what gave rise to the expansion of hotels. The government had to give taxholidays to investors, which reduced its income earning capacity from taxation. The end ofthe 1970-decade witnessed the beginning of the decline of the economy. The country becamemore and more indebted. External obligations such as debt service charges, balance ofpayment requirements to finance imports and payment of contribution to internationalorganisations undermined the investment capacity of the government. In the 80s, governmentmoved further towards divestiture from the hotels on a case-by-case basis. Lacking thepromotional strategies of the Bahamas and the Bermudas, the Government left marketingactivities mainly in the hands of tour operators.

BEST PRACTICE STORY- IMPROVING ACCESS OF THE INFORMAL SECTOR TO THE

TOURISM INDUSTRY.

As earlier indicated, tourism was initially designed to promote Foreign DirectInvestment, foreign exchange earnings, infrastructural development, revenue andemployment generations. Leisure Tourism however, had limited linkage with the productivebase of the local economy thus encouraging leakages and exclusion of the vast majority ofthe population from the acquisition of benefits from the tourism industry. This reality is whatgave rise to a UK Governments Department for International Development (DFID) fundedinitiative to improve the linkages between the informal sector and the formal sector.

This 20 month project ran from August 2000 to March 2002 and worked with theAssociation of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism (ASSET) on a series of participativesurveys to collect information about the perceptions of the tourists, tour operators, hoteliersand inbound operators (or ground handlers). Each of the informal sector groups participatedin the research phase and identified what they saw as the significant barriers to their

participation in the industry and reported on their sales during the peak season (the firstquarter) of 2001.

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

THE INFORMAL SECTOR, ASSET

By 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 Associationor the Ground Handlers and Equipment Hirers Association. It was established in April 2000,bringing together some 40 small and micro enterprises. These include craft market vendors,


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tourist taxi drivers, official tourist guides, juice pressers and fruit sellers as well as a number ofsmall hotels, guesthouses and ground tour operators. It functions as a trade association forthe SMMEs in the informal sector.

THE FORMAL SECTOR

The formal sector in The Gambia is composed of the hotels represented by theGambia Hotel Association (GHA) and the Ground Handlers and Equipment Hirers Association(GHEHA), which is composed of the inbound tour operators who have contracts with theoriginating market operators who constitute the third group within the formal sector. The UKoperators, which send tourists to The Gambia, include The Gambia Experience (operatingyear round with a substantial charter programme), TUI/Thomson, First Choice, Thomas Cook,Panorama, Odyssey and My Travel.

THE GAMBIA TOURISM AUTHORITY

The formation of the non-state actor led Gambia Tourism Authority (GTA) wasauthorised by an Act of The national Assembly in July, 2001, as a public enterprise todevelop, regulate and promote the tourism industry in The Gambia. The GTA becameoperational in November 2001.

THE PROCESS

One of the major issues in 2000, preventing positive dialogue and change, was theconflict and distrust between the different sectors of the tourism industry. The formal andinformal sectors blamed each other for the poor performance of the industry, and so didinformal sector groups among themselves. The down turn in visitor arrivals in the first quarterof 2000 increased the levels of conflict as each group came under pressure. In the initialstage of the TCF project, each of the individual groups was encouraged to talk openly abouttheir problems and to evolve and agree sets of practical initiatives that could be taken toimprove their market position. There was so much disagreement about the issues associatedwith sustainable tourism in The Gambia that it was necessary to identify what the actualsituation was for each sector of the industry through an extended process of stakeholderconsultation. This was backed by survey research of the earnings of the informal sector andthe barriers, which they encountered, on the supply side. In order to understand the demandside, a survey of tourists was undertaken and the views of the formal sector about theservices were solicited.

A series of workshops was held, involving each of the informal sector groupsindividually, the informal sector as a whole, and then the informal and formal sectors together.

An agenda for action was agreed. The consultation and workshopping processes wereessential in order to build a shared understanding of the challenges faced by The Gambia,and to build support for a shared vision and an agreed programme of action to achieve it. Oneof the most important pieces of learning in this process was that The Gambia faces intensecompetition from other sun, sand and sea destinations and the Gambians in the industry need

to work together to attract tourists there rather than competing with each other.

BUILDING CONSENSUS

In Phase 1 (August 2000 to May 2001) the main emphasis was on clarifying theissues and problems which needed to be addressed in order to improve the situation of theinformal sector in The Gambia, and to develop a consensus about what could and should bedone. At a series of open workshops in May 2001 a consensus was developed about whatneeded to be done in order toimprove tourism in The Gambia and to improve the involvementof the informal sector in the industry. At the May workshops a work programme was agreed inan open session with participation by the formal and informal sectors. This was formallyagreed by the project Steering Group, and has subsequently been implemented.


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As part of the consensus building process, key staff from tour operators based in theUK and in The Gambia were interviewed about their perceptions of the difficulties confrontingtourism in and in particular about the strengths and weaknesses of the informal sector. Similarinterviews were conducted with ground handlers, formal sector trade associations and withgovernment. The earnings and the products of the informal sector groups in both theSenegambia and Kotu beach areas the two main tourist centres were surveyed. Arepresentative sample of tourists was surveyed in order to determine the critical consumerperception of the product, and in particular of the importance of the informal sector to theholiday experience.

Results of the research were reported providing the opportunity to discuss theimplications of the survey for each group. Each informal sector group was able to explore theviews of their sector as expressed by other informal groups, the formal sector and tourists.Each informal sector group was invited to come along to the informal sector workshopprepared to discuss what their group could contribute to the necessary process of change andwhat they felt they needed from the others and from the formal sector.

It was essential to achieve consensus about the changes that needed to be made in order tomaximise the impact of the project and to achieve pro-poor growth.

IMPLEMENTAION

An implementation work programme to address the issues identified in the first phaseof the project was agreed during the May workshops in open session with both the formal andinformal sectors represented . A detailed work plan was drawn up for each sub-section of theinformal sector and a number of meetings were agreed to take place between informal groupsand informal sectors to resolve differences. Martin Brackenbury from the Federation of TourOperators represented the UK originating market operators at the multi-stakeholder workshopand in the project steering group, which subsequently agreed the work programme.

An appreciative inquiry approach was used to develop the codes of conduct for eachinformal sector group. This involved visioning change, identifying the steps necessary toachieve it, building co-operation and self-respect. It was this approach, which enabled thecreation of support for the Codes of Conduct, which emerged from the individual sub-sectorworkshops.

Further surveys were undertaken in February and March 2002 to provide data on theresults of the project, follow up surveys were done of tourists and of the earnings of each ofthe informal sector groups the project worked with.

SUCCESSES ACHIEVED

Fruit Sellers

There are a large number of fruit sellers, 26-all female-- working on Kotu Beach. They

used to sell to tourists by hawking their baskets of fruit on the beach, walking back and forthapproaching tourists all day. The tourists felt hassled and some felt intimidated by theconstant approaches to buy fruit and the women felt demeaned as they traipsed back andforth on the beach looking for business.

A Code of Conduct was developed with the fruit sellers, which covered theirrelationships with each other, the hotels and the tourists. They now identify whom eachcustomer belongs to and no longer quarrel over business. Advertising via the Whats Onboards in some hotels was successful.

The official registration of their society, following the creation of the code of conduct,meant that they were trusted enough to obtain a loan, used for buying produce. The fruitsellers also now put a small amount of money into a communal fund.


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A new stall, from which the women now sell their fruit, was constructed as a result ofthe Tourism Challenge Fund initiative. The stall was built with assistance from the BungalowBeach Hotel (which provided paint) and the Kombo Beach Hotel (which provided some cash,labour and materials). The 26 stallholders each contributed to the costs. The TCF projectemployed an artist to ensure a high quality image for the stall.

Poverty Impact

The fruit sellers estimate that their incomes have increased by 50-60% as a result ofthe changes in the way that they conduct their business and improved access to the tourists.The stall has changed the nature of the relationship between the women and the tourists; theyno longer hawk and the women have considerably more dignity selling from behind their stall.The change in the atmosphere on the beach has also assisted other informal sector poorproducers, in particular the craft vendors at Kotu Beach

Juice Pressers

At workshops held in August 2001 the juice pressers created the code of conduct andregulations for the association, which is now registered officially with the government. Theregistration of the organisation has provided the association with direct access to governmenttourism officials and has allowed the associations committee to regulate membership. Nonew members are permitted where an area is considered full and any member who does notabide by the code of conduct can be suspended or expelled. This power has been used a fewtimes where members quarrelled over business or were felt to be hassling tourists. Fixedprices for juice have been introduced and are displayed on menus on each of the stalls, whichhave the function of badging the fruit pressers this, has increased the juice sellers incomes.The fixed prices work despite seasonal changes in fruit prices.

Advertising on the Whats On Boards in the local Bungalow and Kombo BeachHotels and the positive changes in the atmosphere on the beach resulted in significantincreases in the earnings of the juice pressers

Poverty Impact

Juice presser earnings at Kotu Beach 2001/2

2001 2002 Change

Mean daily turnover 66.7 148 132%Mean daily surplus 47.5 105 128%

Weekly Income Dalasis 333 736 121%Source: TCF surveys. These reflect only peak season earnings

Problems remain: the juice pressers feel that the tour operators tell their guests not tobuy juice as they say that the sellers do not wash glasses properly. This is strongly deniedand juice sellers would like tour operators to visit and see the high standards of hygiene

employed. Members of the association took part in a food handling/hygiene course providedby the government and have current food hygiene certificates. However, the juice presserssay that a significant impediment to this business is their lack of access to clean water and tosanitation facilities for the vendors. Tour operators in The Gambia would like to see morefresh juice, rather than canned and bottled juices, in the hotels particularly at breakfast,provided that the hotels can be assured that the juice has been hygienically produced.

Licensed Guides

Official tourist guides are local guides who are licensed by the GTA and who offerlocal trips (e.g. to markets etc.) as well as longer excursions. A large group of guides operatesoutside the Senegambia Hotel in one of the main tourist areas. Other smaller groups operateoutside a number of hotels in the Kotu beach area the other main tourist district. The official

tourist guides run some of their trips using tourist taxis these are taxis which have been


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licensed for tourist use on the basis of meeting certain standards that are not necessarily metby the regular (bush) taxis. There has always been a certain degree of concern amongst touroperators about the safety of the official guides, as well as an issue about competition overexcursions since the guides offer many of the same excursions as the tour operators at alower price.

The licensed guides have benefited from the Whats On boards, and there has beensome reduction in conflict between the guides, taxi drivers and the formal sector. They havedrawn up and adopted Codes of Conduct, which have made a difference to the sense ofcollective responsibility amongst the guides. At Palma Rima, where there is a serious problemwith hassling around the hotel, licensed guides have introduced their own logbook, whichrecords who has worked and where they took their clients. They also record the level ofcustomer satisfaction by asking clients to write in the log when they return. They suspendguides for minor infringements of their Code and have taken the uniform from one guide whothey felt had been complicit in one of their clients being robbed in the market. GTA isdetermined to back the Guides when they take this kind of action and to withdraw the licensesof offending guides. The licensed guides at Kotu Beach were getting significantly more workin 2002, while at Senegambia the increase in earnings was a result of the increase in theaverage income per trip.

Increase in licensed guide earnings at Senegambia and Kotu Beach

Senegambia 2001 2002 Change

Mean income per trip D144 (8.8 USD) D174 (10USD) p20.8%Trips per week 2.38 2.49 p4.6%Mean weekly income D345 (21.1 USD) D408 (24USD) p18.2%Kotu Beach

Mean income per trip D93 (5.7 USD) D94.2 (5.5USD) p1.3%Trips per week 3.06 4.2 p37.25%Mean weekly income D285 (17.4 USD) D380 (22USD) p33.33%Source: TCF surveys. These reflect only peak season earnings.

The Craft Markets

The Tourism Challenge Fund project in The Gambia worked with two craft markets,Kotu Beach and the Senegambia (Kololi Beach) in quite different situations. However, thereare some general lessons, which have been learned from the experience of seeking toimprove livelihoods in the markets.

In the implementation phase of the TCF initiative the two craft markets made significantchanges in order to increase the earnings of the craft workers:

1. Codes of Conduct governing the way the traders do business in the market weresuccessfully introduced and there was, as a result, much less hassling and a significantly

improved atmosphere. The code of conduct worked well, hassling stopped and moretourists came, repeat visitors commented on the improvement. The fact that theSenegambia won the Best Market category in the new National Tourism Awards in 2002enabled the strong reinforcement of the benefits of operating a hassle free market.

2. The Body Shop workshops and individual sessions held with the craft workersresulted in some product diversification, improved labelling and merchandising skills.However, the craft workers felt that they needed far more support to make the changesand to develop new products. Specialisation has become a market buzzword but manystallholders need further support to develop the idea.

3. The free market days, where on a roster craft stallholders are invited in to the hotelsto make sales, were extended to hotels at Kotu Beach and contributed significantly toincreased earnings.


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4. Stall holders recognised that they made more sales when they were producing on thestalls, tourists buy more from crafts people when they see them making goods and thisalso encourages the commissioning of craft items. These changes contributed toincreased sales.

5. Limited efforts with labeling and small interpretation panels about the craft products,

demonstrating the cultural background and often prolonged production process alsocontributed to increased sales.

6. ASSET has developed a new product: gift baskets, which are composed of a range ofcraft and produce (soap/beeswax/honey) for sale through markets stalls and supermarketsand at the airport.

Earnings comparison for Kotu Beach Craft Market 2001/2

2001 Mean 2002 Mean

Sales 96.5 335.3Cost of Goods 55.3 209.4

Commission Payments 1.3Income Dalasi 41.2 122.8Income USD 2.5 6.46

Source: TCF surveys.

At Kotu beach there was increased awareness of the fact that they do hassle touriststoo aggressively, the proportion of stallholders who asserted that there was too much hasslein the market increased from 27% to 90%. The traders at Kotu Beach have not been sosuccessful as at Senegambia in controlling their own behaviour, but there is heightenedawareness of the problem and they have made further progress since February 2002. Theproportion of the day when someone was producing craft on the stall increased significantly.The number of stalls with craftwork being done on the stall for more than 50% of the timeincreased from 6 to 16 out of a total of 46.

The Senegambia Craft Market now has a large sign at the entrance declaring ithassle free. Between the two surveys the number of market stallholders who felt that therewas too much hassling of tourists dropped from 85% to 15% the Code of Conduct and theempowerment of the traders that this fostered has achieved a great deal. There has been amarked fall in the number of stallholders who feel that tourists bargain too aggressively fromto 96% to 66%. The level of aggression in the market has dropped significantly.

The proportion of the day when someone was producing craft on the stall increasedsignificantly. The number of stalls with craftwork being done on the stall for more than 50% ofthe time increased from 52 to 86 out of a total of 150. There was no evidence of any increasein the employment of people in any workshop associated with the market stalls, however,there were 19 additional people working as assistants on stalls in the market in 2002compared with 2001. Of these 19 new jobs, 12 (63%) were given to relatives. The averageearnings per stall, in peak season, doubled in the year.

Poverty Impact

Earnings comparison for Kotu Beach Craft Market 2001/2

2001 Mean 2002 Mean

Sales 96.5 335.3Cost of Goods 55.3 209.4

Commission Payments 1.3Income Dalasi 41.2 122.8

Income USD 2.5 6.46Source: TCF surveys.


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Earnings comparison for Senegambia (Kololi Beach) craft market 2001/2

2001 Mean 2002 Mean

Sales 162.13 316.92Cost of Goods 97.94 194.79Commission Payments 2.01

Income Dalasi 162.13 316.92Income USD 9.9 16.68Source: TCF surveys.

CREATION OF THE RESPONSIBLE TOURISM PARTNERSHIP.

In April 2002 a final meeting of the Tourism Challenge Fund Project Steering Groupwas convened to which the new GTA and representatives of the overseas tour operatorswere invited along with Gambia Hotel Association, Tourism and travel Association Of TheGambia, ASSET, the government represented by GTA and four representatives of the foreigntour operators.

The group decided to continue the work started during the Department For

International Development (Dfid) project and to form a Responsible Tourism Partnership. Itsaims are to continue to develop the relationship between the formal and informal sectors inorder to continue to resolve conflicts and define operational relationships; to look at issues ofresponsibility and the sustainability of the tourism industry; and to consult, review, implement(where given the mandate to do so) and generally help the GTA in its drive to regulate andimprove the tourism industry.

BUILDING PARTNERSHIP WITH UK OUTBOUND TOUR OPERATORS

The UK Sustainable Tourism Initiative (STI) is a joint initiative of the UK Government,UK Tour Operators and Tourism NGOs. The objective of the STI is to enhance thesustainability of the UK outbound industry and to build the foundation for a continual processof improvement.

In the Gambia the STI is working with the Responsible Tourism Partnership to bring UKTour Operators, the Gambia Tourism Authority and Local suppliers of tourism services toidentify areas of mutual concern and to develop and action plan for implementing jointactivities to ensure that tourism is developed in a responsible and sustainable manner.

So far funds were secured through the travel foundation created by the STI toidentify a number of areas in which tour operators and local suppliers can work together tocreate mutual benefit:

Improving and increasing the information that is available to tourists prior to theirarrival and during Welcome Meetings especially as it relates to informal sector services.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS:

GAMBIA IS GOOD (GiG) PROJECT

GIG Gambia is Good

Is a Horticultural Marketing CompanyIn partnership with Haygrove (UK company that supply supermarkets with fresh produce)Aim is to create sustainable and profitable company that supplies fresh vegetables and fruitto hotels and supermarkets.Ultimate aim is to set-up a wholesale market for produce and possibly export markets.Funded by UK Gvt (Business Linkage Challenge Fund), Haygrove and CU. What are theobjectives?


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Create a vibrant Gambian fresh produce market Reduce imports of fresh produce Demonstrate best practice at garden level

How does GiG manage its profits?

The project is pro-poor focused, with profits being shared; 40% to the gardeners 40% project reinvestment

10% local community development programme


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References:

Adama Bah & Harold Goodwin: Improving Access for The Informal Sector to Tourism In TheGambia (20030.

Adama Bah, Sheena Carlisle, Sheikh Tijan Nyang and Halifa Sallah: Problems and Benefitsof Tourism In The Gambia (2003).

Adama Bah, Harold Goodwin, D. Roe: Project Report on Sustainable Tourism Initiativeengagement with the Responsible Tourism Partnership (2002).

integrating tourism to the productive sectors in the gambia

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