By Yunus S Saliu
In its drive to develop the Gambia Tourism Marketing, Branding, and Investment Strategy, the Project Intervention Unit of the Tourism Diversification and Resilience of The Gambia Project (TDRGP) under the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture (MOTAC) on Thursday, 6th commenced a two-day validation workshop of The Gambia’s Tourism Marketing and Branding Strategy, a forum held at the Senegambia Beach Hotel, Kololi.
The forum brought together diverse tourism stakeholders.
Presiding over the opening of the validation exercise on behalf of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Momodou Ceesay, Director of the Project of the Tourism Diversification and Resilience of The Gambia, highlighted the finalization of two comprehensive Situational Analysis Reports: Marketing and Branding and Investment Promotion.
“The stage is now set for all of the tourism stakeholders to be key players in this important exercise to define the brand for Destination Gambia, finalize the logo that brand champions selected from your diverse experience and talent, that you have been working on over the past months, as well as define the marketing vision, goals and strategic interventions,” the Director of Projector highlighted.
The Situation Analyses, she said, present a clear and valid picture of The Gambia’s national and regional tourism marketing, brand, and investment opportunities and challenges to address, so “The reports are based on a detailed analysis of the current tourism situation in The Gambia.”
In this regard, the TDRGP boss affirmed that the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture (MOTAC) will continue to ensure that all the necessary support is given to the Tourism Diversification and Resilience in The Gambia Project (TDRGP), the Gambia Tourism Board, and the Consultants to ensure the successful delivery of this important task, which will be a key milestone in the history of Tourism development in The Gambia.
On behalf of the MOTAC, he thanked all stakeholders for working together from the development of the concept note and terms of reference for this assignment to reaching the present point.
Aboubacarr S Camara, Director General of the Gambia Tourism Board welcomed and thanked stockholders for being able to make it up to the forum which he said will allow the industry to have a very good tourism marketing strategy.
For a number of years, he noted, marketing has been done without a roadmap, but which end of the forum will “allow us a reliable and good roadmap to market the destination appropriately.”
With this, he urged stakeholders to make good use of the opportunity the forum accorded them while thanking the consultant for a job well done.
Dr Mike Fabricius, Managing Director of The Journey, a Tourism Consulting and Marketing firm thanked the gathering for their support while noting that the validation workshop will be an interactive one, especially having some important tourism stakeholders around.
