By Yunus S Saliu
The TUI Airlines maiden flight for the 2019 winter tourism season Friday landed at the Banjul International Airport.
A total of one hundred and eighty-eight tourists were onboard the airbus Boeing 737-800 00-JAV which flew direct from Belgium to the destination. It landed about 12:20pm local time. The tourists were received at the foot of the airbus by the Director of Marketing of the Gambia Tourism Board he was accompanied by officials of the tour operator among others.
Adama Njie, Directoer of Marketing GTBoard said the season is still a promising one as two TUI Benilux flights – a maiden flight from Belgium and an ongoing flight from Holland landed in Banjul International Airport simultaneously on Friday.
With TUI frequency to The Gambia, he said TUI is one of the biggest tour operators in the world and “having two of the airbuses landed simultaneously in the destination from TUI brand indicates they have started successfully.”
The director of marketing added that his board is looking forward to more flights to the country as other maiden flights are on the list for this ongoing 2019 winter tourism season.
Concerning the previous delay tourists encountered at the immigration control during the arrival of Thomas Cook NE in the destination on Thursday, he assured the tour operators and visitors of smooth, good and quality service as everything is in control.
As a tourism destination, he said the Gambia tourism industry is very unique that all tourism stakeholders are working closely with tourism players because “tourism is classified as major sector of The Gambia economy.”
Since the collapse of Thomas Cook, he said the GTBoard and relevant authorities have come up with sustainability solution to entice more tourists/visitors and make The Gambia visa free which other countries in the region are now emulating the idea.
He added that government has given approval on the visa free based on the contribution of tourism to the GDP, foreign exchange of the country from tourism and among other reasons.