Manager of one of The Gambia’s most beautiful resorts, Sarjo Touray has reiterated his unwavering resolve to ensure that sustainable tourism is not left on the back-burner in their efforts to attract more tourists. Mr. Touray of Tendaba Camp made these remarks in an interview with TODAY Newspaper.
According to him, they have over the years played an active role in providing accommodation and river trips for the burgeoning number of visitors who come to the place during the tourism season as well as hosting workshops.
This, according to him, has brought about immense benefits to the local host population in creating employment and enhancing the lives of the people.
“We have given real priority to the host community of Tendaba in terms of direct jobs, working as waiters, cleaners and administrators.
We also supply electricity to them for their needs at no cost and buy fish from the fishermen to save them from having to travel long distances to sell their catches. These are as part of our modest contribution to promoting their collective welfare,” he said.
The community of Tendaba, he continued, has been on the receiving end of positive experiences from contact with people outside their immediate environs which could be made use of in their efforts to tackle the challenges confronting them.
“The people here are very friendly and warm which has made tourists feel welcome any time they come in contact with them. Some tourists have made friends here, whom they give educational support, helping people roof their houses and many other benefits. I am proud to say that the people of this community are a major plus to us in our efforts to make tourists feel at home,” he said.
He maintained that earnest efforts have been made to increase the awareness of the people on protecting the forest cover as an important element in the attraction of birds and by extension, enticing more tourists.
“The Gambia is a beautiful country blessed with a river and birds with colourful plumage which possess the potential to attract tourists in high numbers .We are doing our utmost to champion the course of environmental protection as an important aspect of our existence as human beings,” he said.
Speaking on the challenges confronting the growth of tourism in the area, he deplored the poor state of the roads to the area as a constraint that puts off potential visitors and the lack of electricity supply.
This, he added, has left them with no viable option than using a generator to meet acceptable standards as an accommodation for the visitors.
“We have had to order 5000 litres of diesel to run the generator every six weeks. This is very expensive for us as a business because it takes away our much-needed profits that could have been spent on other development projects. The road to the area is being constructed which I hope will ease the travel problems that often keep away prospective visitors,” he said.
Finally, he called upon Gambians with the wherewithal to patronize the camp through regular visits with their families rather than seeing it as the exclusive reserve of foreign tourists.
