“It has begun to yield some dividends that would be able to help us to sustain the product without going deep into the coffers of the GTBoard,” he said.
Mr Hydara made the remark while speaking to journalists recently at the official opening of the 4th edition of the food and beverage festival which was held at Green Mamba Restaurant at Senegambia.
“We are happy to say that this festival was introduced by the then director general of GTBoard who is now the minister of tourism; we want to thank him for the initiative of having a new product added to the Gambian products,” he said.
“This is all part of complementing tourism products as well as to sustain and support poverty alleviation in the country,” he added.
GTBoard director general said through the festival, they are not only expanding the product but also encouraging sustainable tourism.
He said the board has a strategic plan of how to build and expand the Gambian tourism.
“This [the strategy] is no longer a mere pronouncement but a written policy and now the policy has been transformed into an action plan from 2015 to 2020,” Mr Hydara said.
Adama Njie, director of marketing at GTBoard, said a lot of marketing had been done about the food and beverage festival both locally and internationally since last year.
The director said the festival is “actually promising” and it could only get bigger and better in the coming years.
