KEY NOTE ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR TOURISM AND CULTURE ON "THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF TOURISM ON THE GAMBIA" The Chairman, Members of the Gambian Association Friends of the Gambia Distinguish Ladies and Gentlemen I have the singular honor and pleasure to be Associated with this august gathering as it accords me the golden opportunity to share some pertinent Thoughts with you on this very important theme:! The Impact of tourism on the socio-economic development of The Gambia.! Mr. Chairman I will like to first of all give a little Background as to how tourism started in The Gambia. A Swedish national by the name of Bertil Harding Together with Vingresser, in 1965, brought 300 Swedish visitors to The Gambia. They marketed The Gambia as an exotic sun and beach resort where rich Swedes could spend the European winter months to escape from the cold. The months of October to April were considered to be appropriate for tourism. By 1966-67 tourist arrivals increased by 100 percent. The Government of the Gambia, which at that time, relied mainly on the groundnut crop to earn foreign exchange, saw the need to exploit the foreign exchange earning capacity of the tourism sector. Hence by 1970, the Government designated 1000 meters of the Gambia’s beach as the Tourism Development Area (TDA). This development led To the increase of hotel beds from 162 in 1965/66 to 300 beds in 1970/71. The number of visitors increased from 300 tourists in 1965/66 to 2600 visitors in 1970/71. However, because the country was not a major destination, it did not attract much foreign direct investment. Tourism was seen mainly as a government enterprise. There were few hotels and these were built through government investment, with partnership from investors such as the Commonwealth Development Cooperation and Vingressor. This initiative brought interest and later gave rise To the development of hotels through the involvement Of the private sector. Realizing the potentials in the sector, the Government provided incentives in the form of tax holidays and duty waivers to potential Investors. Today there are about 35 hotels, over 6000 hotel beds, and an average of 100, 000 visitors Annually. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, tourism is Recognized as one of the Gambia’s principal engines of growth, and an important contributor to the attainment of poverty reduction. The sector ontributes between 16-18 percent of the country’s GDP; it provides employment to over 20, 000 Gambians, in the formal and non-formal sectors; it is our biggest foreign exchange earner- in 2004 it fetched US$ 40 million; in the same year, it contributed D200 million to government revenue. Tourism and its Impact on Gambian society: Tourism as you are all aware has mixed impacts. On a positive note, tourism provides jobs, brings foreign exchange and provides income to support local development. It can also directly support local industry and encourage communities to place greater emphasis on environmental protection. For instance at its initial stage tourism encouraged women to learn various trades in the form of tie and batik which in effect made them bread winners and providers of the daily needs of their families. It is indeed through this dynamic trade that we have seen our women folk take on greater responsibility of paying for their children’s school fees both locally and abroad, building houses and providing fish money for their families and thus making them equal partners with the men in contributions towards the welfare of the family. Mr. Chairman, ladies and Gentlemen, it is also worth Mentioning that most of the women folk initially Engaged in the tie and dye business were uneducated But surprisingly they were, with time, able to master The languages of the visitors, as a result of their Interaction with them. With a little encouragement and through enrolment in literacy classes some of these women were not only able to speak foreign anguages; they also acquired writing skills. We are therefore glad that tourism in a way also contributed to the promotion of adult education. Indeed, empirical evidence has shown that when two cultures clash/meet they are bound to influence each other. This can either be positive of negative. Although Gambian society has benefited a lot from tourism, we have also seen a number of negative impacts, especially with the youth sub sector. Being a very vulnerable group the tendency is for youth to abandon indigenous ways of living in favor of the borrowed western culture- this is more apparent in the way they dress, marriage culture, begging among children and prostitution among others. Mr. Chairman, the list is not excursive as far as I Know, but I am limiting my self to some of these problems and hopefully some of the other problems will form part of our discussion after my remarks. I am sure that our visitors have also been affected by their interaction with their Gambian hosts and friends in a number of ways. Mr. Chairman, ladies and Gentlemen, if I may go back to the economic impact of tourism, like most other tourist destinations in the developing world, the Gambia, does not benefit from tourism as much as it should. A lot of revenue is lost through leakages such as: . Importation of foodstuff, drinks and other essential commodities • Repatriation of expatriate salaries • Package tour receipts that do not reach The Gambia • Expenditure on advertisements, promotion and publicity, among others. It is estimated that significant leakages of gross visitor expenditure due to imports and payments retained outside the Gambia is estimated to be D218 million. These results show that we need to be more proactive in addressing the leakages of the tourism sector, if we are to maximize gains out of it. It is also important to note that Gambian tourism depends on seasonal packaged tours even though The Gambia is an all-year round tourist destination. However, it is disheartening to note that a significant percentage of package tour operators money, which include fares, accommodation and board, stays outside in the country of origin of the tourist. We are also cognizant of all the factors that contribute to the leakages in tourism revenue, which prevent us from maximizing the benefits of tourism. These were the reasons, among others, that led to the commissioning of a tourism development master plan study by The Government of The Gambia. The study’s objective was to review and develop the sector in its entirety. It has now proposed various policies and strategies that would guide future development plans as well as enhance the socio-economic, cultural and ecological impact of tourism. In addition to the Master Plan Study, the Department of State for Tourism and Culture has also developed a national Ecotourism Strategy, whose aim is to ensure that the benefits of tourism trickle down to the communities, thereby benefiting the majority of the Gambian people thus contributing towards poverty alleviation . This will be done by encouraging investors to develop in partnership with the local communities’ eco-lodges and -camps in the rural areas. It is expected that this will not only help provide employment, and enhance the income earning capacity of rural families, but shall also help reduce the rural-urban migration. Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I have in the foregone exposition, attempted to demonstrate the impact of tourism on the Gambian economy. However, as has been pointed out, even though the Gambia derives tremendous benefit from tourism, a lot of what should have accrued to the country remains outside. The Gambia Government, through my Department of State, is intensifying efforts via policies and programmed to ensure that Gambians derive much more from this very lucrative trade. Examples that can be highlighted include the Bengdulas, craft-markets, Beach Bars, Ground Handlers, Fruit & Juice Sellers, and Tourist Guide Scheme were all initiatives meant to offer Gambians a stake in the industry. Other innovations include the Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism (ASSET), The Responsible Tourism Partnership (RTP) and the ‘Gambia is Good’ these Project are all seeking to achieve sustainability and more equitable distribution of the tourism cake At the same time, we also continue to improve and develop the Gambian product, and to intensify our marketing and promotion strategy. All of these, we belief, will help make the Gambia more marketable thereby boosting the number of visitors, which we hope will help increase tourism income. At the end of the day our dream is to utilize the economic benefits of tourism to alleviate poverty. Last but not the least , your associations contribution in promotinig Gambian culture as an annual event is highly appreciated by my Department of State for Tourism and Culture and the entire Government and people of the Gambia. Let me assure you of my Department continued support and cooperation . On this note Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen HE. President Alh Dr Yaya A.J.J .Jammeh has asked me to convey to you all on his behalf and the entire Gambian people a happy and joyous 20th cultural week celebration. I thank you all for your attention. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤