By Njie Baldeh
As this year tourist season promises a good number of arrivals, the first maiden flight from Poland on Friday arrived in The Gambia with 189 on board.
The aircraft was received on arrival at the Banjul
International Airport by officials of the Gambia Tourism Board as well as Tour
Operators.
Speaking to journalists shortly after the landing, Foday
Bah, officer-in-charging of e-marketing at GTBoard and the Marketing
Department, said the flight was full with 189 passengers, adding: "The
coming of this flight is very important to the destination as you can see last
year, there was no flight from Poland."
According to Bah, this is a very good moment for the tourism
industry, and "I think it is really going to contribute immensely into the
arrival figures".
"The is very good based on the statistical information
that we are getting, and figures are very promising based on what we have
seen," he said, adding that this year is going to be a very good season
with the efforts of GTBoard on e-marketing, promotions and other activities.
Bah therefore called on stakeholders to continue to sell the
good image of the country.
"We need to market The Gambia as a tourism
destination," he said, adding that almost five flights landed at the
airport that day bringing tourists to the destination.
Kemo Jammeh, Senior Guide, Alkamba Tours, said that was the
first maiden flight from Poland, which is also promising.
"Today we received 189 tourists on board and the flight
will come every week." He also called on the airport authority to improve
the air condition system at the airport.
"Gambia is a good destination, despite that we have
limited eco-tourist site, but as usual it is always good for The Gambia."