Tourism in The Gambia

The Gambia

Tourism Background

Costs

Benefits

Economy

The growth of sex tourism

Very little of the money spent in the industry actually flows through the economy; mostly enjoyed by foreigners

Dilution of cultures.

Improvement in the country's balance of trade

Creation of jobs in the travel and tourism sector

Tourism contributes 12% of Gambia's GNP

There are now ver 15htesin the tourist development area with a capacity of abut 7000 beds

By 1993-94 the number of guests rose to 130,000

The start of Gambia's tourism development started with the arrival of 300 visitors from Sweden in 1965

Has a population of 1.1m

Its main geographical feature is the River Gambia

It is 350km from west to east

Literacy rates in the country are low with females having 22.7% and males having 50.9%

Located in West Africa and is surrounded on 3 sides by Senegal

GNP per capita of $320

A human development index of 0.281

In recent times, the Gambian economy has diversified with the development in the tourism sector

The Gambian economy was very dependent on the production of groundnuts