Gambia to host ‘Responsible Tourism in Destinations’ conference

Following the first Responsible Tourism in Destinations Conference held in Cape Town prior to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the Gambian Tourism Authority (GTA)and the UK based Responsible Tourism Partnership have agreed to run a further conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations.

The Conference will be jointly chaired by Harold Goodwin from the RTP and Habib Drammeh Director General from the GTA.

The particular focus of the Gambian Responsible Tourism in Destinations Conference will be on the new Gambian Responsible Tourism Policy and on the local economic development initiatives underway in The Gambia. The results of the Sustainable, Tourism Initiative project with UK tour operators (First Choice, Gambian Experience, JMC, My Travel, and Panorama) will be reported and discussed at the conference, as will the other initiatives undertaken by the Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism (ASSET).

The Gambian Responsible Tourism in Destinations Conference will focus on what tour operators can do to increase benefits to local communities through the development of complementary products.

The Gambia, like South Africa, is in the process of branding itself as a Responsible Tourism Destination and placing particular emphasis on improving the increasing the opportunities and the benefits for local communities and micro-enterprises and improving the destination for visitors. As in South Africa in The Gambia there will be visits during the Conference to see practical projects and for delegates to critically appraise them.

The target is to attract tour operators who currently send tourists to The Gambia, journalists and travel writers, development agencies, hoteliers and investors. They seek to attract 40% international participation and 40% Gambian and 20% regional drawn particularly from West Africa.

The Conference will take place in late April or May – dates will be announced on Responsible Tourism Insider.

For further information contact: [email protected]

The Responsible Tourism Partnership is a non-profit making company that works in partnerships to improve destinations for local people and their visitors. They bring together tourism businesses in originating markets and destinations to work with local communities and national and local government to create better places for local communities to live in and for tourists to visit. www.theresponsibletourismpartnership.com