By Yunus S Saliu
Destination Gambia, famously known as the Smiling Coast of Africa, was one of the most sought-after tourism destinations at the recently concluded World Travel Market (WTM) 2024. The event, held at ExCeL London from November 5th to 7th, 2024, showcased Gambia’s growing appeal to global travelers.
The Gambia contingent to this prestigious summit recognised as the world’s most important annual gathering of tourism ministers with a real opportunity to attend different conferences, woo potential investors and sell your country to the world was led by the Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Honourable Abdoullahi Jobe and was accompanied by different stakeholders including senior officials of the Gambia Tourism Board, TTAG, GHA, Tour Operators, and among others while officials of the Gambia High Commission to the United Kingdom paid a visit to the Gambia stand before the close of this world remarkable summit Thursday.
This year the Gambia joined, as usual, over 180 countries and over 3000 exhibitors to attend the prosperous World Tourism Market described by Juliette Losardo as the world’s most influential travel and tourism event, that is “More than a place to meet and do business,” thus “It is a place to carve out the bigger, bolder, brighter future we all want.”
WTM, she added, is a place for people who refuse to go back to the status quo, “A trusted home designed to help you to make plans, fix issues, diversify your networks, and make life-changing, business building relationships.”
At the 18th year of this three-day summit kicked off on Tuesday, the Gambia stand was attracted to many people, especially most influential figures from different continents including Europe, Asia, America even Africa and lots of Arab countries that visit to discuss tourism potential and investments in The Gambia.
Minister Jobe and other stakeholders used the medium to sell the country’s tourism package, culture, heritage, different events and activities that tourists can enjoy in the country which including bird watching, numerous festival, heritage sites, carnivals, Gambia gastronomy, the cherished River Gambia,
Having an insight of the event, the opening press conference to the WTM London where the official WTM Global Travel Report was unveiled was held on Monday Morning, followed by a session for trade on Monday afternoon. The report gavea voice to the changing needs of travellers and uncovered behaviours and new trends for 2024 and beyond. Using an expansive data-bank covering more than 185 countries worldwide as destinations and as origin markets, covering all major bilateral tourism flows in terms of visits, nights and spend, as well as unique industry insights, the report also gavea comprehensive outlook on tourism.
On Tuesday, participants joined different speakers and influencers to shared their knowledge, inspiration and experiences, related to the top trends in travel, tourism and beyond by staying informed and embracing these insights.
However, a traditional Gambian kora player was at the Gambia stand to entertain visitors throughout the summit.
