Banjul , The Gambia

The new Secretary of State (SoS) faces a lot of challenges as far as the Tourism sector is concerned.

1.She has to familiarise herself with the Tourism master plan studies in order to prepare a new road map for the development and advancement of Tourism in The Gambia.

2.To look into the possibility of having year-round tourism rather than the seasonal tourism, which has been with us for a long time.

3.To look into the possibility of encouraging regional tourism. Also the most important challenge is to look into air access in order to bring more arrivals and attract an upmarket client.

4.Government should look into the various Taxes and levies imposed on hotels and related services, which we consider to be a hindrance to growth.

Government needs to improve on the infrastructure across the board, like roads and telecoms etc.

To look into the farming aspect, particularly the production of vegetables used in the hotel business. We should encourage the cultivation of more vegetables and dairy products to empower our farmers especially our women farmers.

The new SOS, in collaboration with GTA, should continue the dialogue and the security action with the taxi drivers to make them more aware of the importance of quality service delivery as well as this she should make use of Gambia’s Expertise in Tourism.

Finally, the labour department should ensure that hotels are encouraged to invest in their employees with a view to giving them good incentives and training them to improve their capacities.The new SOS should make the most of the availability of high calibre technicians, such as Kaliba Senghore, Permanent Secretary, with support from Mr. Alieu Mboge, who has wide-ranging experience in financial and administrative matters.