Adama Bah ICRT-West Africa How Tourism Benefits The Poor ? Lessons from The Gambia

Tourism and In-Dependence self rule from Empire- “Independence” Investor in tourism 300 tourists White paper on tourism Tourism seen as the “black gold” 40 Km of beach

Impact? Increased debt burden-infrastructure Women rice and vegetable growers affected Fisherpersons affected Communities not compensated for lost of community land Cluster development “Bendula” Meeting concept Informal sector businesses created Women participation in cash trade- Traditional Craft -cast system

1980s Financial Crises! Poverty increased; inflation accelerated; real per capita income declined; agricultural production failed; shortages of basic commodities (fuel, rice, etc) creditworthiness declined - donors suspended all aid except for humanitarian assistance.

1985- ERP Workers in the public sector made redundant Foreign currency float – no fixed rate Agricultural subsidies cancelled Government divestiture programme started with more redundancy RESULT More dependence on Tourism

Question Was tourism a better option ? Wishful thinking and academic …….

Tourism Movements 1994 Military take over Travel advice Sustainability of Tourism an issue campaigned on fairer tourism mainly targeting consumers and Tour operators Inspiration from CSD7 on tourism and sustainability ASSET Formed Informal sector project- market access

Agenda for Change Conflicts of interests? How can the poor better access the market? How can linkages be improved? Training/licensing/insurance requirements Formal sector participation Informal/small enterprises respect

Projects to Benefit the Poor ASSET – training, product design & development, marketing etc Tourism Regulations ratified. Government legislated the fruit vendors, local guides, juice pressers, craft market vendors and tourists taxi drivers as formal businesses. Schedule B ground operational license introduced for small operators

RT Projects GiG project Linking local vegetable production to hotels Roots Community excursions-gate fees, employment, community development “Guaranteed Gambian” craft project Travel Foundation with tour operators

Moving Forward LessonsChallenges Motivated and dedicated individuals can make it happen Participation of government and tour operators key Stakeholder’s support Mass tourism can make bigger impacts in terms of economic returns. Trade and business not charity Bottom up or top down? Certification- travel life- pressure on value chain to change Changing dynamics of tourism Entrepreneurship drive Access to market for the poor Government regulations Constant monitoring Provide subsidies “in transition” –for the poor Exit strategy – who takes over when beneficiaries are “not ready” Short term project- Business mentoring