"Trove of attractions exist within West African sub-region"

Kaliba Senghore, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Culture has said that within the West African sub-region, there exists a treasure trove of attractions that can be blended together to produce a great tourism experience, based on the concept of one region and many destinations.

PS Senghore made this remark while speaking at the occasion of Liberian Farm Trip held at Kairaba Beach Hotel on Friday 16th April 2010.

According to him, the visit of the Farm Trip is timely and crucial to our efforts in developing a sub-regional tourism. This, he added, is more crucial as the contours and dynamics of global tourism continued to shift in various fashions and shapes.

"We have the tourism development master plan and poverty reduction strategy paper, Eco-tourism strategy and responsible tourism policy, therefore our desire to further fine-tune to intensify tourism scope by developing other niches specifically tailored for the sub-regional African market," he stated.

He commended the Gambia Hotel Association, Tourism and Travel Association for the support in facilitating the tour, and thanked the Gambia Tourism Authority team for the support, as well as the Royal Air Maroc.

For her part, Director General of the Gambia Tourism Authority, Ms. Binta Jobe said that GTA is proud to be associated with Farm Trip.

According to her, the main thrusts of the strategy are developing products and experiences that are appealing to new target segments, and devising innovative marketing strategies to reach out to the new markets.

"Besides the fabulous and agreeable climate, abundant peace and tranquility, there are range of unique attractions, such as the world heritage sites of the stone circles, ruins of James Island, including all the related sites in Roots Village of Juffureh, as well as the award winning Eco-resorts of Makasutu, along the banks of the majestic River Gambia," she stated.

Ms. Jobe pointed out that the Gambia Tourism Authority also recognised the evolving trends in world tourism and the negative consequences of global economic turbulence, which she noted, has affected the travel patterns in various parts of the world and the need to adjust and realign strategies to be able to withstand the current turbulence.

Other speakers included Mr. Aziz Khan of Travel and Tourism, Ms. Nyanya Jagne of Asset and Mr. Najjari Abderrahmane, the head of delegation of Royal Air Maroc and Country Manager in Liberia.