Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) recently awarded Kairaba Beach Hotel as the best hotel of the year 2011.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference held at the same hotel, Gerard Lombardo, the General Manager of Kairaba Beach Hotel, explained about what Kairaba has to offer in terms of service and more so, why the hotel has been selected as the best hotel of the year 2011 at the recent Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry recent award night.
“We are very proud of the achievement and we are surprised to get this award taking into account the stiff competition. For many years, the Kairaba Beach Hotel has been the leading and only five-star hotel in the country,” he said.
“The past few years, we have seen three or four five-star hotels joining the list,” GM Lombardo said, adding that these are beautiful hotels, which have developed to attract more market type of clientele in the country, which is fantastic because we do really need those types of people.”
GM Lombardo described The Gambia as a beautiful country while re-echoing the Gambian leader’s quest to make The Gambia not only as a beach destination but also a haven for cultural tourism.
According to him, during the past years, they have seen quite a few new faces who have preferred The Gambia to other destinations in Africa. First-timers have also had to visit The Gambia again because of the hospitality of the people, the Kairaba Beach Hotel manager said.
He added that their biggest asset, as far as the hotel is concerned, is their employees, saying the recent award would not have been possible without the able staff of the hotel.
The hotel has created jewellery on the West Africa Coast, he said, adding that it will continue to improve on its services with its dynamic staff.
Mr Lombardo also commends the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Fatou Mass Jobe-Njie, describing her as an exceptional lady who is selling The Gambia as a potential tourism destination in any international forums.
For her part, Abby Sarr, director of public relations and marketing at the Kairaba Beach Hotel, told reporters that the Kairaba Beach Hotel is one of the hotels in the world which has a lot to offer.
The trip adviser, she added, is the biggest nightmare for hospitality worldwide stressing that the services at Kairaba are “absolutely outstanding” and reflect the customers’ desires thus the recent award.
“We are grateful to companies and institutions that use our facilities,” she says. “These companies make sure they keep Kairaba on the map as most of the events hosted at the hotel are international conferences with delegates coming from all over the world.”
“The Kairaba experience is the Gambian experience as it will put our name as a country out there,” Ms Sarr said. “We are very proud of our team who work very hard; they dedicate that institutional memory in Kairaba because of the long-standing spell of the staff.
She reiterated: “We are very grateful for the award as it is a big tap on the back and we are not taking it lightly in our desire to improve on our services.”
