Anyone traveling within West Africa can probably tell you how difficult it can turn out to be. Truth is, I was dreading this journey.. and I could have so easily not made it. I forgot my passport at home but luckily enough for me, I realized this with enough time in hand. Passport with me, we set out to get the 11am ferry for a 5pm flight. Meaning I had to leave the house at 9am. The interesting thing about the ferry journey is once you actually get moving it’s quite a nice scenic journey to and from lungi. This journey was pretty uneventful, save the guy trying to sell his music and thought the best way to get people to buy was to play it as loud as possible in the VIP section. We tried to get him to turn it down but he wasn’t best pleased. I did eventually buy a couple of CDs off him though and we parted on good terms.
Seeing as we had enough time at the airport I decided to accompany the General Manager of the Tourist Board to check out a new resort being built in a village called Ureka by Sammy Williams a ‘returnee’ from France.
I’m quite excited by the project and intend to write an article on it and Sammy at some point in the near future.
Lungi Airport is really not as bad as it used to be, a lot of folks still talk about being harassed when they arrive but personally I hardly get this.
From what I’d heard taking Bellview is always an experience. My friend used it to go to Nigeria the week before and they eventually left at 3am for an 8pm flight. In our case the flight did arrive on time – but someone had mentioned that you had to get on the plane asap as there was no seat allocation. You grab a seat where you can find one. I thought, that’s aight – no problem there. Of course, playing it cool was probably not the best thing to do. As soon as I boarded my fear was that I wasn’t going to get a seat. I quickly evaluated the options available to me. I was either going to stand through out, seat on someone’s lap, left off the flight or be upgraded to business class. No prizes for which I was hoping to happen. Well, I was eventually given the security personnel’s seat – right next to the toilet. The less said about this the better.. the flight was really smooth though and I even managed a nap which hardly happens on flights.
My entry into the Gambia this time round is a lot more dignified than the last time I was here. Last time, I arrived on a Thursday night, by boat and spent the final night overlooking the coastline as we were not permitted to disembark for security reasons. That time in 1997, I was seeking refuge. Nearly 11 years later, my entrance couldn’t be more different. We had a fellow with a sign up waiting for us and were sped through the formalities.
In fact, so many things about The Gambia seem different. Even those of our delegation who were last here about 3 years ago said things looked different.
When the chance came up to come to this conference, I couldn’t really pass on it for many reasons. Mainly, much talk has gone on about how Sierra Leone has so much more potential for tourism than the Gambia. Apparently, our beaches are nicer. It was also to see how they (The Gambia) are going about running their industry, the standards of those in the industry, the service etc.
Well, the hotel I’m staying (Sunset Beach Hotel) is right on the beach front. If the beach is the best this country can offer, I can categorically state that even Lumley beach (with some clean up) will knock it off the radar… and you know Lumley beach is not one of our top five. This beach is just ok.
The land is flat and doesn’t have the same character as Sierra Leone does and I believe we win in the eco-tourism potential as well. For nightlife, I think we definitely have the edge even though we could do with a bit more choice. The night before returning I went to a free concert which included Sierra Leonean artists Emmerson, DJ Lulu and Lady F. It was aight.. we then proceeded to Senegambia (all in the name of research) where we chilled at a restaurant with live music entertainment(another thing in short supply here).
Anyway, in terms of the raw product, we may have more to offer. However, their service industry is not to be compared with ours. The staff are so professional and service oriented. Their tourism industry is ‘well-oiled’. It’s really a joy to watch. One of the first thing I noticed about this hotels is accessibility for disabled people, something I doubt a single hotel in Sierra Leone complies with. In short, their standards – service, accessibility, hygiene and infrastructure is on an different level. They have computer systems set up (I’m a geek I know) and staff are adequately trained in using them. The only two hotels I know use computerised systems for booking and room allocation are the Country Lodge and Hotel Cabenda – these are the ones I’m aware of. I’m not saying that The Gambians have what we should aspire to or that their industry is perfect because it isn’t, but they’re trying.
Nevertheless, I still believe that in 5-7 years we can be competing with others in the region as West Africa is still underdeveloped in terms of taking advantage of the tourism opportunities. That is, if the government pays more than lip service to the tourism industry.
As for The Gambia, well they haven’t seen a growth in tourist numbers in the last couple of years and are looking at ways to remodel the industry, offers new things and re-energise their industry which has been so important to the growth of their economy.
..and for Sierra Leone? Well, our challenges (mental and physical) will continue to inhibit our growth if we don’t develop strategies to counter this now. Some work is being done but I fear it is uncoordinated, which might result in a mish mash of tourism projects, waste of resources and potential short life span of our tourism industry when we eventually have one.
1 comment:
Tourism wouldn't prosper in any society without development in other areas. A developed infrastructure is required to define and sustain it. You don't expect foreign visitors or tourists to flock to your beaches or other tourist attractions through the kind of roads and transportation systems that are available. Neither are they expected to live in dilapidated conditions, like the shacks that are available all over the city. Until these things are taken care of, we should just have to do with the status quo. Tourism would not attract the foreign currency it requires for growth in the present condition.
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