Stakeholders in Gambia’s tourism urge government to support industry’s operators

01 Juin 2020

Banjul, Gambia, June 1 (Infosplusgabon) - Stakeholders in Gambia’s tourism industry have called on government to support the industry’s operators and help address challenges arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

Sheikh Tijan Nyang, head of Institute for  Travel and Tourism of The Gambia (ITTOG) said: “Our expectation as an industry was for government to give out assistance in form of subsidies, advising banks to put on hold interest and loans taken by industry players.”

In a report, he said that more than 100,000 hotel, tour operators and other staff in the industry have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic either directly or  indirectly.

"We were hoping that government would  give out support to stakeholders with soft loans as done in Senegal, Ghana, Cape Verde among others countries in the sub-region. We also expected the that government will give support to tourism institutes in recovering losses through the non-payment of school fees as well as supporting stakeholders in addressing salaries and other overhead issues,” Nyang  said.

“The sector is still waiting for the government to come up with incentives as promised by Tourism minister Hamat Bah, at a meeting of the stakeholders, where he promised within 48hours government will make a pronouncement to give support to the industry,” Nyang revealed.

He added: “We are yet to hear any pronouncement from the government on the support government intends to give to the players in the sector.”

He observed that the situation of Gambia’s tourism industry is very critical, stressing  that government needs to take the issue seriously as any delay would bring serious repercussions to the livelihoods of thousands of Gambians and non-Gambians  working in the industry.

While The Gambia counts the negative impacts of the pandemic on the hospitality sector and the country’s economy as a whole, Fatou Mass Jobe Njie, chairperson of the Gambia Hotel Association (GHA) described the impact as ‘catastrophic.’

“This sector is uniquely exposed due to the worldwide panic as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak whose duration and scope is still unknown. At the moment these sectors are confronted with the challenge that is threatening not only the existence of our individual businesses, but the lives of our brothers and sisters who work and depend on the tourism industry and the nation as a whole,” she explained.

Njie, former tourism minister under ex-President Yahya Jammeh, affirmed that “the vast closure of hotels, small and medium size businesses at every level within tourism  are having catastrophic ripple effects, hitting a huge number of employees and suppliers."

She added that it is heart-breaking to see  the livelihoods of thousands of people who have dedicated their lives to the hotel, travel and allied sectors being decimated; from waiters to taxi drivers, room attendants to cleaners, chefs to receptionists.

“Hotels, tour operators, restaurants, suppliers and over 100,000 employees, are just a few of the hardest hit that suffer the most immediate repercussions, as the outbreak started during the winter months, the busiest travel season,” she noted.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/ART/GABON2020

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