Former President Yahya Jammeh’s announcement of his “imminent home-return” has sparked strong fears among some actors in the country’s tourism value-chain about a potential travel advisory as the Gambia’s tourism industry begins to pick up following the start of this year’s winter season.
Some industry players, who spoke to JollofNews, said Jammeh’s announcement could not have come at a worse time than now as they look forward to leveraging the 2025/2026 tourist season after six-long months of wait.
While the Gambia government announced that Jammeh would be arrested if he travels to the country as he insisted on Sunday to his supporters at his home village of Kanilai, the legislator for Foni Kansala Almamy Gibba capitalised on his appearance on Coffee Time on Thursday to issue a call on Gambians to come out en masse to welcome the former president from his eight-year exile, which his supporters said was supposed to last for only six months.
While others downplayed the former president’s “imminent return” from exile in November, some in the tourism business are taking it seriously and have been expressing fears about its potential to trigger a travel advisory.
“That [travel advisory] can ruin the entire season and cause huge losses to hotel owners and other operators, who invested heavily in their businesses, in anticipation of the season,” one lady, who runs a shop at the Kotu beach, said.
“This is the best time for us and I think Jammeh should wait till the end of the winter season if he’s to come,” said another tourism industry actor.
Some business operators in the tourism industry, who spoke to JollofNews, said the devastations that Jammeh’s announcement could have on the tourism business could be tough to recover from.
