By Lamin Njie
Honorable Hamat NK Bah, the outgoing Minister of Tourism and Culture last week, briefed the media on the achievements he registered during his tenure as tourism minister from 2017 to date.
According to him, tourist arrivals have increased greatly from 150,000 in 2017 to 235,000 in 2019 which, he noted conveyed significant economic development for the country.
However, he noted that following the outbreak of COVID-19, the number dropped to around 90,000, but that The Gambia was one of the fastest tourism recovery arrival countries in the sub-region.
“Today, I can proudly tell you that, as a Government we will take all the necessary steps come December 2024 for the number of tourist arrivals to increase significantly,” he said.
Minister indicated that his office was determined to do more marketing and to make sure The Gambia was well represented by Gambians who were out to market the country internationally.
“When we took over, we found what was called PR Firms that were supposed to promote The Gambia and were based in Europe and not in The Gambia. These firms will make statements when they want to and are paid huge amount of money. This government felt it was wrong and we hired our Gambians to do the job and it paid dividend,” he reported, pointing out that the termination of the services of those PR firms was done in the best interest of The Gambia.
Further on his update, the outgoing Tourism minister said 12 new hotels are about to be completed and will be inaugurated soon, which means an increment in the number of beds for the tourism sector.
On The Gambia Tourism Board, Minister Bah informed that when they took over as government in 2017, it was found that the tourism sector was taking overdrafts to do certain transactions.
“We came up with initiatives by making sure that inventors show commitment and participate in the development of the industry. The government came out with a policy that a five percent non-refundable deposit for the development of the tourism sector was agreed and it was implemented. This has led us today to the completion of numerous tourism projects,” he explained.
He said the government, through his Ministry, was able to build a new head office for the Gambia Tourism Board and expand its activities into the international markets. He revealed that a deal has recently been signed with Apollo Group for the resumption of Scandinavian tourists into The Gambia starting this coming October.
“Again, another deal was signed recently with another airline coming from Rome, Italy, to bring in tourists. This is an opportunity for Gambians in Italy to fly in without difficulties. We signed another contract with one of the third largest operators in France to promote and sell The Gambia’s tourism sector,” he said.
On The Gambia Tourism and Hospitality Institute, the outgoing Minister reported that the institution has significantly gone through a significant transformation process with a new management in place leading to the expansion of their services across the board.
“The institution is also going into a bakery to train Gambians and this will continue with partners such as the World Bank to build the capacity of more Gambians, especially the youths as a measurement to curtail the back way syndrome|”.
Commenting on the National Centre for Arts and Culture, Honorable Bah mentioned that the institution was one of the greatest achievers of all the institutions under the new dispensation as it was dumped by the previous regimes.
“When we came in, the first thing we did was to ensure that they were allowed to employ more professionals, revamp the institution, and of course more people. This has paid dividends and the government has wasted no time in revisiting their wages and the budgetary allocations of the Centre and this gave them the capacity to deliver,” he said.
Talking about the recently concluded bicentenary that was held in Janjanbureh, the Minister mentioned that the event was a successful one and henceforth, it will be an annual event. He revealed that a modern national theater will also be built for Gambian artists to showcase their talent and other important issues.
Speaking on why he dissolved the board of The Gambia Tourism Board, the Minister mentioned that he acted on the right path and that it was done in good faith and for the best interest of the country.
He finally dismissed allegations that he and some other officials of the tourism sector were involved in some illegal land transactions describing them as bogus and unfounded allegations levied against them by some unscrupulous individuals.
In attendance at the press conference was Mr Abdoulie Jobe, new Minister of Tourism and Culture; senior officials of the Ministry and Directors General of the satellite institutions under the Ministry’s purview.
