By: Yunus S Saliu
Stakeholders in the tourism industry have issued a challenge to Destination Gambiato work on improving its internet connectivity and the cleanliness of the environment.
The country, one of the sought-after destinations in the region, has also been challenged to improve the poor internet connection at its only airport and other relevant things that make a destination worthwhile for a visit and stay.
The stakeholders raised these issues at the Sir Dawda Kairaba JawaraInternational Conference Center in Bijiloon Monday, where they gathered to review and validate the International Visitor Survey Report (IVS) spearheaded by the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture overseeing the Tourism Diversification and Resilience in The Gambia Project (TDRGP).
Presenting the International Visitor Survey report, Kevin Millington of Acorn Tourism Development Consultants highlighted some of the unsatisfactory situations that the survey revealed. The survey, he explained, targeted tourists who visited the destination.
According to him, the survey reportrevealed that most of the tourists weredissatisfied with the environment, saying: “There is too much garbage, plastic scattered around, begging harassment and traffic congestion and also pollution, potholes, security check-ups at the airport. Under this group, the destination is rated 10.7%.”
“Road network, the attractiveness of the country, internet, cleanliness, road safety, lives of Gambians, beaches, and hotel services were grouped under General Improvement where the destination scored 24.5%,” he explained.
He further explained that destinationGambia was rated 44.6% and 13.0% on bad roads, poorly maintained roads, dirty roads, small roads, roads needing improvement, potholes, congestion, and Airport Security Fees, respectively.
“Bad drivers – 4.3%, negative comments on food: poor, not enough, not always open 3.6% while on the immigration service needs improvement including personnel the unit scored 3.4% and poor customer service earned the destination 2.2%. Hotel improvements/modernization, poor infrastructure, and the need for better internet are 2.2%, 2.0%, 1.4% and 0.8% respectively,” he stated.
“Under clean-up, we have beaches, country, markets, rubbish, roads, and litter is 26.8% while the destination placed 25.4% for too much plastic, recycled plastic.
Notwithstanding, overall, under impressions of The Gambia, the destination scored 82.6%,” said Mr. Millington.
The International Visitor Survey (IVS) was carried out at the Banjul International Airport for the inbound tourist segment by the Project Implementation Unit through Acorn Tourism Development Consultants. It was an exercise administered through a questionnaire jointly developed and validated by all relevant stakeholders and was conducted from 14th March and ended by 3rd May 2024.
The purpose of the survey was to gather intelligence that will guide short-term planning, marketing, and branding, and also serve as a basis and reliable information source for the planned development of a comprehensive marketing strategy for The Gambia.
