The Gambian Tourist Value Chain and Prospects for Pro-Poor Tourism

Tourism in The Gambia: International ‘Best Practice’ in Poverty Reduction & Pro-Poor Growth Through Tourism
Draft Report (Friday 22 nd December 2006)
these constraints on the employment of non-Gambian management align with government’s
commitments to ECOWAS
Box 6: Pro-Poor Tourism Regulatory Issue # 5
Ensure that the Pay Roll Tax and Expatriate Quota Authority are consistent with Gambia’s
recent commitments to ECOWAS.
An unusual feature of the West African tourism sector is the high proportion of men
employed by the sector. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the expenditure patterns of
women’s earnings have a more developmental impact than for men’s earnings. There is a
developmental case, therefore, for the state focusing upon training women and reducing
the obstacles to them entering the formal tourism labour market.
In a number of the Southern African settler states, sophisticated models of partnerships
between private sector tourism stakeholders and poor, often rural, communities are
becoming increasingly common. This reflects the nature of their ecotourism product and
the fact that significant tourism potential exists on land which is held communally. This can
be an additional source of benefit flow from tourist accommodation to poor communities,
beyond the creation of jobs. In The Gambia circumstances are different. Tourism has
traditionally been urban and either on private land or on land which the state expropriated
from communities to form the TDA.
Notwithstanding this, as the nature of the Gambian tourist product diversifies into poorer
and more rural locations, it is likely that the form of partnership through which the Sandale
Eco-retreat is being developed can be replicated. As the landowner in the TDA and with a
practice of effectively giving away valuable tourism plots, the state is also in a very strong
position to require some form of ‘community gain’ through a partnership agreement on
tourist developers. This could involve guarantees of local employment; a percentage of
revenue or profit being distributed to a community trust for social investment or the
community holding an equity position in the development, either from the onset or in the
form of a transfer after a fixed period. The publication of guidelines for the design of these
types of partnerships can facilitate their adoption.
Box 7: Pro-Poor Tourism Regulatory Issue # 6
GTA consider whether to study international best practice on partnerships between tourism
developers and local communities and publish guidance to encourage this practice in The
Gambia.
The international experience suggests that these partnerships can work in stable, often
rural, environments. However, such partnerships can exacerbate tensions within
communities and the record suggests the delivery of benefits to the community is often
much less than expected.
5.2 Agricultural Supplies for Food and Beverages
The purchase of agricultural supplies by hotels and restaurants is an important element of a
pro-poor tourism strategy in The Gambia for several reasons.
First, as outlined above, generating demand for local agricultural produce is a key
mechanism by which tourism can impact on the livelihoods of large numbers of poor
people. In a country where 70% of the workforce is engaged in agriculture, boosting
agricultural supplies to hotels and restaurants is more likely to be successful in improving
livelihoods than, for instance, transferring labour from the agricultural sector to a limited
tourism sector.
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