The
maiden flight of the TUI Benilux from Belgium with one hundred and eighty-eight
passengers on board last Friday landed at the Banjul International Airport.
The
airbus Boeing 737-800 00-JAV, flew direct from Belgium to the destination. It
landed at about 12:20pm local time. The tourists were received at the tarmac by
The Gambia Tourism Board Director of Marketing, accompanied by officials of the
tour operator among others.
Commenting
on the arrival of the TUI Benilux maiden flight for the season, Adama Njie,
Director of Marketing GTBoard said the season is still a promising one as two
TUI Benilux flights – a maiden flight from Belgium and an ongoing flight from
Holland landed in Banjul International Airport simultaneously on Friday.
With
TUI frequency to The Gambia, he said TUI is one of the biggest tour operators
in the world and “having two of the airbuses landed simultaneously in the
destination from TUI brand indicates they have started successfully.”
The
director of marketing added that his board is looking forward to more flights
to the country as other maiden flights are on the list for this ongoing 2019
winter tourism season.
Concerning
the previous delay tourists encountered at the immigration control during the
arrival of Thomas Cook NE in the destination on Thursday, he assured the tour
operators and visitors of smooth, good and quality service as everything is in
control.
As
a tourism destination, he said the Gambia tourism industry is very unique that
all tourism stakeholders are working closely with tourism players because
“tourism is classified as major sector of The Gambia economy.”
Since
the collapse of Thomas Cook, he said the GTBoard and relevant authorities have
come up with sustainability solution to entice more tourists/visitors and make
The Gambia visa free which other countries in the region are now emulating the
idea.
He
added that government has given approval on the visa free based on the
contribution of tourism to the GDP, foreign exchange of the country from
tourism among other reasons.
