Ida Jeng Njie: Africans Should Promote Continent’s Destinations

Director General of the Gambia Tourism Board, Mrs. Ida Jeng Njie, speaks about tourism in Africa, efforts to get more Nigerians visit Gambia for leisure, businesses, among others. Charles Ajunwa brings excerpts:

Can you tell us what Gambian Tourism is all about?

We’re the mandated institution to market and promote destination Gambia to its rightful target markets and beyond. The reason for that is to ensure that we place Gambia at its rightful position in the tourism map, in terms of visibility, and also in terms of bringing numbers to the Gambia. That is why when we had that engagement with Nigerian tourism stakeholders, I said I have one simple message for everyone. That simple message was, come to the Gambia. And come to the Gambia means a lot. Come to the Gambia to explore, come to the Gambia to learn, come to the Gambia to experience all that we have to offer. Come to the Gambia to be educated, because the perception of Africa, Africa is one. Yes, we are one, we are united. But every country has its distinctive selling points and every country has its distinctive strengths. So that is why we say come to the Gambia and explore, come to the Gambia, visit, come to the Gambia, study, come to the Gambia, enjoy. So, regardless of what you want, come to the Gambia, it will be catered for you. Come to the Gambia so that we also can increase our numbers. Because we were mandated to market the Gambia. The end result is to increase the numbers and everybody knows when numbers increase at the destination, what that means. Increment in GDP, create employment, elevate poverty, and others

In terms of tourism, what does your country have to offer the world?

That is why we said come to the Gambia. Come to explore, come to explore our culture, come to explore the nature, come and explore the smiling coast, which is our unique selling point as Gambians. Our people are our strength. When you have the people as your strength, you can do everything possible. Come and explore the nature. The beaches on the coast are comparable to none. Our eco-resorts, our products, our culinary, we have, I mean, the best culinary. We are a one-river country. Come and explore the river. We can do so much in that river. Come and explore the retreat. Bring your businesses, let them come for retreat. We have state-of-the-art new conference centre. Come and do your meetings, mice, leisure, you name it. We have all the facilities to cater for that. Come and explore the flora and the fauna, the birds, and the wildlife.

You talked about the tourism package in Gambia. Why target Nigerians?

We believe that as Africans, we should sell each other. But Gambia and Nigeria have strong bonding ties. And we want to use Gambia and Nigeria to show the other African countries that it can be done. We want to show not only the other African countries, but the world, that it can be done. We have the belief in Nigeria. They are our big brother. Nigerians are high spenders. Nigerians travel. So we want Nigerians to come to Gambia to spend. We know Nigerians are travellers. Let them come to Gambia. We, Gambians, we know what it takes to make sure that the Nigerians enjoy their visit to Gambia. Regardless, whether it’s honeymoon, or wedding, or birthday party, or conference, or leisure. Because of the bond and the ties that we have, we know what the Nigerians want and we are ready to deliver that to the Nigerians.

Gambia population is above two million. How prepared are you to receive Nigerians when they start coming in terms of leisure?

We are ready for Nigerians. What shows that we are ready for Nigerians? Back in the days, when we did a study about what Nigerians want, one of them was a shopping mall. And we are having more of that now. Like I said, we studied the Nigerian market. We know what the Nigerians want. We are ready for the Nigerians. We have over one something million population. We are ready for them. You look at other destinations. For example, another European destination that receives more guests, visitors, than their population. Seychelles, they are not even three million. How many millions do they have of visitors in that country? If others can do it, we can do it. We are ready

What is your take on tourism in Africa?

That is why we are in Nigeria, because of the ties that we have. When we promote each other, we gain. The money stays. So, we need to promote each other. Nowadays, if anybody is travelling, like for example, you are travelling from Asia or you are traveling from Europe, you rather do two destinations than you do one destination. So, two for the price of one. We feel that as Africans, we should come together. We should promote each other.