Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
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4.4.5. Weaknesses and Threats to Tourism in The Gambia
The population of the country is relatively small (1.9 million) and in 2015 it lay in 173 rd place
(out of 188 countries) on the UN’s Human Development Index. The challenges are also because
the country has few natural resources on which to base a more diversified economy. Even in
2015, the export of groundnuts, cashewnuts and related products accounted for 53%of the total
value of the country’s exports (Republic of The Gambia, 2016).
The heavy dependence of The Gambia on foreign-owned tour operators as intermediaries with
the international market is a further weakness, but attempts in the 1990s by the government to
regulate the growth in all-inclusive holidays led to the withdrawal of a major German tour
operator, followed by protests from other European tour operators. In the face of threats of
reduced business to the destination, the policy was abandoned (Wheatcroft and Francis, 2011).
A further possible cause of weakness is ascribed to increasing fears of terrorism and
Islamophobia by North European markets (Mitchell and Faal, 2007; see also Section 3).
However, since the principal outbound tour operators make little mention of the country’s
prevalent religion, it is probable that the sluggish demand is more closely related to the strongly
competitivemarket environment, and to the search by Europeanmarkets formore sophisticated
and experiential forms of tourism, while Gambian tourism has failed to keep pace with these
developments.
The World Economic Forum (2017) assessment of tourism competitiveness places The Gambia
in 112th position (out of 136). It scores especially poorly in terms of its cultural resources and
business travel (128th position), the Human resources and labour market (114th) and
international openness (120th).
4.4.6. Conclusion
Despite structural weaknesses in the Gambian tourism sector, those most closely involved in it
remain optimistic. The British tour operators Thomas Cook and The Gambia Experience are
intending to maintain or increase capacity for the 2017-18 season, while the largest outbound
operator from Poland to The Gambia has also confirmed an increase in flight capacity. Senior
staff from the GTB have confirmed a larger budget for marketing and product development. In
particular, they expect to diversify their offer to encompass more cultural and ecotourism
products away from the coastal strip and will continue to welcome both foreign and domestic
investors. They also expect to emphasise the message that The Gambia is an extremely safe
destination (Beyai-Raji, pers. comm. 21 April 2017).
The strongest lesson learned from the most recent crisis is that the tourism authorities need to
have an inter-departmental emergency response programme in place in order to ensure the
safety of their customers in the event of an emergency.