MBOKA: West Africa Travel Market debut in the Gambia

By Lucky Onoriode George

The West Africa sub region is finally coming up with a befitting travel fair that could signal a real integrated marketing opportunity for the region if plans by the Gambia Tourism Authority come out successfully.

West Africa Travel Market is an initiative facilitating cooperation between tourism businesses from the region, Africa and the rest of the world. West Africa Travel Market is an open platform where local businesses and communities, international tour operators, investors, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) and governments can meet to support a sustainable development of the tourism sector in West Africa.

According to Gambia tourism officials, West Africa Travel Market was conceptualized as a permanent initiative offering an integrated set of instruments and actions; such as an online market event, international marketing support and business to business event with the inaugural edition holding from October 18-22, 2008 in Banjul, Gambia.

Apart from the aforementioned, the fair will also support West African governments and the tourism industry to develop the sector in a manner that will contribute to economic development, poverty alleviation, community empowerment and sustainable tourism practice. It will also support the exchange of experiences and the strengthening of promotional skills and competences.

“Specific attention will also be given to the cooperation of West African tourism boards, tour operators and suppliers in order to jointly promote the sub region as a sustainable destination at international markets” Gambia tourism noted.

The initiative will support the development of regional standards for sustainable tourism. Standards will include environmental, social, as well as cultural aspects and will be linked with existing standards and systems such as the international tour operators that the sub-regional  and African suppliers to conduct a self-evaluation of their social and environmental performance.

In order to increase concrete results, the organizers has also concluded arrangement with  major European travel and tourism related companies to provide active market support to sustain African suppliers. Already, the organizer is contacting personally more than 200 potentially interested European tour operators with the view to connecting them with local West African operators for business discussion.

Despite the tourism boom on the continent in the last few years, its nearness to Europe, the great variety in people culture and traditions with abundant beauty, the sub-region remains unexplored.

Summing it up, Fatou Mas Jobe, Managing Director, Dunes Resort Casino and Executive member of Gambia Hotel Association that region is already known as an alternative destination for big time travellers, but not just the backpackers alone. (www.westafricatravelmarket.com)

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