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April 28, 2012

Why Don’t Tourists in the Gambia Leave Their Hotel?

It is a terribly sad reality that tourists often will not leave their hotel in the Gambia. On the buses from the airport they are warmed that it is unsafe, and they are often convinced to upgrade to all-inclusive to avoid the need to venture outside. This infuriates me.

The local people may hassle you to buy things, and they may ask if you need a taxi each time you walk out of the hotel, but they are just trying to make a living. They are harmless, almost always extremely friendly, and they are certainly not a danger.

By the tourists not leaving their hotels these people often have no business and cannot feed their families. It is extremely sad. These are hard working people that would do anything for you, in exchange for a few small Pounds.

Why Don’t Tourists in the Gambia Leave Their Hotel?

When I booked my trip to the Gambia I purposely did not book a transfer through Monarch Holidays, I did not want to give Monarch my money, I wanted to give it to local people. Not only was it cheaper to grab a taxi outside the airport, it was more of a cultural experience, and it did not involve driving around the entire resort dropping off tourists at their hotels (and you know your hotel will always be last on the list).

I have seen tourists at my hotel that have not left once. They are unaware of what is going on outside of the complex walls. They have not mixed with the local people, they have not tried the local restaurants and they have not shopped at the local markets.

By tourists not leaving their hotel local taxi drivers sit outside waiting for business that never comes, the local artists never have the opportunity to sell their arts and crafts, restaurants remain largely empty. Gambia is a very poor country, and tourism is a huge money maker, and a great way for local people to make a living and support their families…but how can they do this if the tourists never leave their hotels?

The local people told me of their worries, they told me how they just want to do their job, but they can’t because the tourists won’t come out. Wouldn’t you rather know that your money is going to feeding a local family, rather than to a foreign owned or multi-national corporation?

The problem is, that the tourists have no idea about any of this. They are ignorant to any money problems the locals have, and they have no reason to doubt the reps when they tell them it is unsafe. The reps clearly do this to cover themselves, and to make more business for the hotels, but I think it is ethically and morally wrong- the tourists should not be disillusioned like this and the local businesses should not be disregarded in such a way.

So this is a message to anybody thinking about planning a holiday to Gambia- do it- it’s fantastic! But get out of the hotel! There are great local restaurants, the local people are so helpful and friendly and there is also so much to do from markets to crocodiles and monkeys! Don’t give all of your money to that multi-national corporation that will see it return to the UK or America, spend local and help improve the lives of many people in Africa-your Pounds can make a real difference to their lives-so put your money where your mouth is and spend local!

Buy local…it makes such a difference to their lives and such little to yours…

Leave a comment
  1. Hi Hayley, This is so true! It’s great advice for people who honestly want to see the world. I just started following your blog and am loving it! Thanks for sharing your travel experiences.
    Anne 🙂

  2. Howdy! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a group of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche about diseño paginas web. Your blog provided us useful information to work on. You have done a extraordinary job!

  3. A good read. I hope you can encourage more people to actually visit the country they pretend to visit. Yet, consider that you use a picture showing children trying to sell goods and you advise “Buy local”. I would not encourage people to buy from children.

    • Ann Mccarthy says:

      Have you considered that some of these children trying to sell you a souvenir may in fact be from child headed (or ancient grandmother headed) families and are simply trying to get enough food to keep younger siblings alive – after their parents have died of Aids? In Uganda that is often the case http://www.Ruhanga.com

  4. Hello, thank you for following my blog. I hope you enjoy all the posts about ourSenegal trip for the wedding – and the others as well 🙂
    This post is so evocative of our trip.

  5. We’ve just been in Senegal for our son’s wedding and were thoroughly immersed in real family life – it was fabulous! I wrote about the wedding and other stuff in my blog. You might like to check it out.

  6. Kathryn says:

    Hi,
    I couldn’t agree with you more about leaving your hotel and supporting the local businesses. However, I was very surprised and horrified to hear that the reps you have encountered discouraged tourists to leave the hotel saying it is unsafe.

    I’ve travelled to The Gambia many times and I have never come across this, quite the opposite. I have always travelled with The Gambia Experience (who I work for) and although we do sell a few all-inclusive packages, we encourage people to leave the hotel, try the local restaurants and visit the local craft markets etc. As well as supporting the local ecnomy the souvenirs are cheaper in the markets and haggling is half the fun! I’m really sad they you have had such a different experience.

    Some tourists do really hate the hassle you can get outside the hotels though, which I can understand, but it is a shame because as you say it is harmless and if you do not leave the hotel you miss out on so much.

    If you want to read about some of my adventures outside the hotel here’s a link to one of my posts from the smiling coast of Africa! http://travelwithkat.com/2012/01/02/my-diary-from-the-smiling-coast-of-africa-part-4/

    Now to catch-up on some more of your adventures! 🙂

    • Hayley says:

      Yes it is a shame, I met so many people that did not leave our hotel! And I had so many stories from the locals about how their business is suffering etc… just wanted to raise awareness through this post really!

      What do u do for the Gambia Experience? I went with them although didn’t ever meet the rep so can’t say I experienced the scare mongering first hand! I had just been told about it…

      I will have a look at your posts too! 🙂

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