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Drammehkangi
Sweden
40 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Jul 2007 : 19:14:28
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Right, the nature of clientel in The Gambia is changing, and these are the tourists who are now asking for more typical Gambian dishes on hotel and restaurant menues, which unfortunately the industry is not responding to. The thing is that international tour operators who has a vested interest in the all-inclusive package tours, are only interested in selling The Gambia as a sun, sea and sand destination, and to realise that objective at its maximum, they must provide provide products that keeps them in control.
The Gambia relies on the product that tour operators market in originating markets. This is because the flow of tourists to The Gambia is to a considerable extent determined by international tour operators, travel agents and transport services in the countries of tourist origin. Eighty seven percent of hotel guests that come to The Gambia come on package tours, with a highly concentrated foreign-owned tourism complexes. As wholesalers of tourism products and services, international tour operators assemble the holiday package by negotiating with destinations and operators in developing countries, and whilst the country tries to sell the destination by including all what it has to offer to tourists, they have very often underlined their weak bargaining position in business transactions, particularly with dominant suppliers of the most important originating tourism market from developed countries.
You will realise that by promoting, and putting emphasis on typical local dishes (which are cheaper!), the all-inclusive idea of the tour operators will gradually slip away from their hands. If what is advertised is not provided in The hotels, guests will go somewhere else to find it, and guess where? Universal perspective dictates that around 85 percent of all businesses that are directly or indirectly dependent on tourists’ expenditure are SMEs, from small shops to operators, providing much of what makes a destination attractive, and this is in no exception of The Gambia. They are very important in the tourism trade, providing a very diverse range of tourism products and services; facilitate rapid infusion of tourism spending into local economies, and usually shoulder the distinctive function of offering a local character to the increasingly homogenised tourism packages. So, lack of emphasis on local dishes, is purely a business strategy of the supplies who are more profit driven.
 is just an exchange of idea, no accademic exercise
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Edited by - Drammehkangi on 11 Jul 2007 19:18:04 |
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Drammehkangi
Sweden
40 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2007 : 20:08:22
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Right, MeMe."the issue of those 'supplying' the tourists with food and drink", is a dilema. These weaknesses coupled with the lack of basic business information force most to adopt a ‘‘product oriented’’ than a ‘‘market oriented’’ approach in their tourism offer. However, don't blame the business people. I wrote here that, we have a problem with the word "development". Many instance in our situation, we seem to confused development with the concept of growth…which sometimes include some statements about self-sustained growth, including businesses as well.
..it would seem that they'd rather offer global brand names ie Fanta, Sprite, etc than locally produced soft drinks which are equally good". There is concern about what is said by operator representatives at these meetings where local guides are normally excluded from these welcome meetings because they were seen to be competing with their tour businesses. For instance, Bah and Goodwin (2003) reports in the context of The Gambia that tour operator fears over health and safety liabilities may mean that they do not recommend fresh juice sold on the beach, despite high standards on the part of the new juices’ sellers’ organisation. This gives the impression that agricultural produce from local farmers and gardeners in The Gambia will not be adequately utilised in the tourism industry in The Gambia. Now, how is tourism going to connect to encourage those primary industries?
"Maybe they think that the average tourist won't pay the higher price for an 'unknown' brand? The same goes for the dishes on offer in the tourist-orientated restaurants". Yes, many businesses within the hospitality and tourism in The Gambia operates on those views. The problem is that, tourism has never been a top prioty in government's economic development policies,rather a cow milk for foreign exchange earnings.
In early periods of market reform in developing countries, the main constraint on developmental issues was seen as government intervention in markets which caused significant ‘distortions’ and economic inefficiencies. Less consideration was given to the design of policy to deal with the traditional economic causes of market inefficiency in terms of market imperfections and market failures. The inception of tourism in The Gambia was not planned, thus policy makers are yet to focuse on strengthening the economic linkages between tourism and the local industries, including the food sector. Lack of control over the nature of tourism development has led to a country’s dependence on foreign products, foreign investment, and foreign skills. The majority of tourists comming to The Gambia MeMe have similar taste to that of yours, they love the domada, yassa, benachim etc, but our enterpreneurs, policy makers and stakeholders as a whole in The Gambia are yet to act.
Not an accademic exercise, simply an exchange of ideas |
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