Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
95
almost 90,000 visitors in 1994 and providing around 7,000 jobs (Sharpley, 2007). However,
benefits to the local economy were limited due to high leakages and the high costs of meeting
the expectations of tourists in terms of food, other supplies and infrastructure.
A military coup in 1994 and a contested transition of power in 2017 had short-term effects on
visitor arrivals, but by then, Gambia has become established as a sun, sea and sand winter
destination for people from Britain (which provides around 50% of arrivals), Scandinavia, and
other north European countries. Access from these markets is dependent on charter flights and
package holidays organised by international tour operators: around 84% of arrivals are on all-
inclusive package tours (Mitchell and Faal, 2007). Tourism numbers overall are relatively small,
never having risen above a peak of 171,000 in 2013 (see Table 4.4).
Table 4.4: International Visitor Arrivals and Foreign Exchange Earnings – The Gambia
Year Arrivals Receipts (US$)
2000 79,000 Not available
2001 57,000 Not available
2002 81,000 Not available
2003 89,000 58,000,000
2004 90,000 51,000,000
2005 108,000 59,000,000
2006 125,000 69,000,000
2007 143,000 87,000,000
2008 147,000 80,200,000
2009 142,000 64,000,000
2010 91,000 80,000,000
2011 106,000 92,000,000
2012 157,000 99,000,000
2013 171,000 Not available
2014 156,000 Not available
2015 135,000 Not available
Sources: UNWTO
By 2004, tourism provided 16,000 jobs (Republic of The Gambia, 2006) and an estimated US$
40 million in foreign exchange, but there was concern that the sector was generating less wealth
for the country than it could have done because of the high leakages; large shares of tourist
expenditure are repatriated to the countries where multinational hotels, international tour
operators and foreign airline companies originate. A Tourism Master Plan produced in 2006
aimed to address this by diversifying the tourism sector, extending the season, and developing
better links along the local supply chain in order to reduce reliance on imports. A small but
influential NGO – the Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism (ASSET) – was
established in 2000 to promote better links between the informal economy of craft markets,
beach-vendors, tourist guides and other micro-entrepreneurs, and the formal sector of resort-
oriented package tours.