The aircraft was received on arrival by the Gambia Tourism Board officials and tour operators.
Abubacarr Camara, the director general, Gambia Tourism Board, told journalist that this was the maiden flight for TUI from Belgium, saying it is impressive compared to last year, “because we didn’t have TUI from Belgium, though we had arrivals from Belgium, but they don’t come with chartered flights. This year, we have TUI UK, TUI Holland, and TUI Belgium which is good news.”
“For TUI UK we are expecting four flights a week; TUI Holland, we are expecting two flights a week, and TUI Belgium we are expecting two flights a week,” he disclosed. He added that Belgium is “one of our source markets,” and this year, “we are expecting 20 charter flights a week.”
On the issue of service delivery, Director Camara said that all hotel owners were asked to renovate their facilities to standard, and if you go around the tourism area, you would realise that everybody is trying to do some maintenance, so that the tourists would come and enjoy their holiday and go back.
On the cancellation of Gambia Experience flights to The Gambia, the GTBoard director informed journalists that the issue has been resolved and now the flight will start coming to the destination.
“I think tourism is the business of every Gambian, and every Gambian should make sure that we have a good tourists’ season,” Camara added.
Foday Bah, e-marketing and IT manager in-charge of the Marketing Department at the Gambia Tourism Board, said the cancellation of the flight will affect the frequency, but the issue has been resolved and the four flights will start coming.
According to Bah, GTBoard has done efforts in terms of promoting Gambia in Belgium, and “if you can see right now, we have a PRO Marketing Firm in Belgium to promote the destination.”
