He said the trip was very crucial to inform the strategy directions they want to take as a board and as a ministry “because Covid-19 has taught us a big lesson that we should not be depending too much on the European market.”
GTBoard director of Marketing made this statement during an interview with journalists in Tendaba Lodge as part of the Tourism Minister’s nationwide tour.
“It is very clear that many Gambians love to come to hinterland, but because of the poor facilities, so that’s why it is important for us as a board and as a ministry to do the assessment and the ones that are not coping with our standard, we have no choice, but to shut them down,” he said, adding that if you want success for this country in tourism, one has to set potential standard as our number one agenda.
He said many countries like Senegal and Ghana actually look at what we do despite us being very small in terms of population, because we are respected worldwide. “I recall some years back, we had an MoU with Nigeria Tourism Board and despite Nigeria being big in terms of population and economy, nobody can beat us in terms of the know-how,” he said, adding that there is a lot of progress in terms of Gambians moving from the city center to come to the hinterland, saying that is the only way we can re-inject tourism activities again.
Come 2021 tourist season, GTB director of Marketing said one of the pillars of the marketing strategy is to diversify the source market, which is at the center stage. “But the only problem we have with the Chinese market is because of the air access and I think the Ministry is looking into the strategy document prepared for air access.”
