By Louise Jobe
Tourism and Culture Minister together with stakeholders, Wednesday visited hotels and tourist attraction sites within the grater Banjul area, to gather first-hand information ahead of the 2017 / 18 tourist season. The visit was part of the tourism ministry’s calendar of visiting the existing infrastructure before the commencement of every season, as a way of ensuring a reliable and secure tourist season in the country.
Hon. Hamat N.K Bah the Minister of Tourism and Culture in his remark said if one sells a product and people accept to buy it, then one should not expect disappointment. MR. Bah continued: ‘‘as a result, my ministry has to go around and see what obtains on the ground, how prepared the people are and what the visitors should expect? The people who are intending to come to this country, is what really motivated my ministry to tour the hotels and other tourist sites.’’
Visiting some of the hotels and tourist sites within Banjul and Senegambia, Mr. Bah made a good impression of what he saw. He commended the Sun Set hotel for the excellent structures and urges them to keep up the good work.
‘‘This country is a unique country. It is a peaceful country and a good destination to come to,’’ Mr. Bah said. He expresses that the future of tourism in the country is promising because there is a huge number of investors who are ready to come and do their investments in the Gambia. He said there were people who left this country and where never ready to come back but are back now; that that is why his ministry is convinced and optimistic that under the new Government, this country will flourish and will yield positive dividends for democracy.
Mr. Abdoulie Hydara, the Director General of Gambia Tourism Board thanked the stakeholders for their concerned regarding the hotel industry. ‘‘This is customary that that we visit the facilities to ascertain the facts of accommodation of the tourists,’’ he said. Other speakers included Mr. Buba Ceesay, the Director of NCAC, who talked about the importance of preserving our culture and said that they are in the process of renovating some of the structures to improve the conditions.
