As
the 2016/ 2017 winter season approaches, a Thomas Cook flight Tuesday landed at
Banjul International Airport with 212 tourists onboard.
The
airbus was received on arrival by officials of The Gambia Tourism Board and
tour operators.
Speaking
to journalists shortly after the landing of the aircraft, Adama Njie, director
of marketing at GTboard, said they had the first flight from The Netherland and
this was the second flight from Sweden, which brought 212 tourists.
“This
is the beginning of the tourist season, and we are very happy. The third is
coming in November from Helsinki,” he said, adding that they are expecting to
have about eleven flights from Thomas Cook, and nine from the UK,” he added.
Mr
Njie said this is a good start and they are very optimistic about it, adding
that this year’s tourist season is very promising.
Charbel
Hobeika, managing director Gambia Tours, said this was the first flight from
Sweden with Thomas Cook tour operators.
“I
think it’s a good start, and this year we are looking towards a very good
season. Everybody is preparing for this season and many hotels have opened and
some are yet to open, and this is a big plus for everybody in the industry,” he
added.
Kirsi
Karjalainen, manager of Thomas Cook Gambia, also told journalists: “This is
always exciting.” He added that this is his seventh winter in The Gambia.
It
is always a special occasion when they get the first tourists, and this year
they have the Swedish tourists coming, he said.
