Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
96
Mitchell and Ashley (2007) carried out a review of the tourism value chain within the Gambian
tourism economy and found that despite the high leakages, a considerable proportion - around
14% - of in-country spending for goods and services accrues to non-managerial staff and
entrepreneurs. This is a significant flow, even though on the face of it The Gambia appeared to
be a case study of where tourism does not benefit the poor because of weak support and
governance from the public sector, the relatively small number of arrivals, and the dominance
of cheap package holidays operated by a few European tour operators.
4.4.2. Crises Affecting Gambian Tourism
The characteristics of the tourism industry in The Gambia – in particular its reliance on a small
number of source markets and a narrow offer of beach resort tourism - leave it particularly
vulnerable to stresses. The main issues which have affected the country or which may do so in
the medium term are as follows:
 The developments in Gambia took place during the peek season of tourism have
adversely effected the tourim arrivals and revenues.
 The Ebola disease outbreak in 2014 caused considerable disruption to destinations
across Sub-Saharan Africa. As the outbreak started fairly late in the 2013-14 tourism
season, the major effects were felt by The Gambia in 2014 and 2015 (Mizrachi and
Fuchs, 2016). According to government sources, the effects of the outbreak are still
being felt in lower arrival numbers than would have been expected otherwise (Beyai-
Raji, pers. comm., 21 April 2017).
 A further source of stress to the tourism system is the impending crisis of climate
change. In 2003 it was already flagged up that The Gambia is one of the countries most
vulnerable to sea-level rise due to climate change. Because almost its entire tourism
infrastructure is located along the coast, a rise in sea-levels will significantly affect the
tourism product and the country’s infrastructure generally, including inundating the
capital, Banjul (Jones, 2003). This matter is the principal cause for concern of the
tourism authorities (Beyai-Raji, pers. comm., 21 April 2017).
4.4.3. Recovering from Crises in Gambian Tourism
The collection of economic data and other statistics on the Gambian tourism industry has been
inconsistent, but it is nevertheless clear that the visitor arrivals recovered quickly after the 1994
coup. Subsequently, however, the industry lost momentum, with significant fluctuations in
annual arrival figures in the period 2000-2005 (Sharpley, 2009). Although there was some
recovery after this, volumes have again tailed off, stagnated or declined since 2008.
In order to recover from the most recent shock to the tourism system, in January 2017 the
Gambia Tourist Board (GTB) engaged PR firms in their main markets and has been working
closely with tour operators to promote positive stories about the country in time for the 2017-
18 season. Efforts have included familiarization trips for journalists and tour operators in order
to try and eliminate the ‘fear factor’ (Njie, pers. comm., 21 April 2017). The GTB is working