Tourism in Developing Countries

Introduction

The Gambia, often referred to as the ‘Gateway to Africa’, is one of the smallest countries in the African continent and is situated on the west coast. The country is a former British colony gaining independence in February 1965. (uneca.org, 2010). Most of the country’s tourism is based around the enclave, which is where economical opportunities are mainly focused. In the case of many countries in the developing world, tourism is an industry that can offer many economic advantages and transform regions. It can assist in creating employment and hugely benefit communities in development projects that could live on for generations.

It is difficult to outline whether tourism as an industry can attract individuals to a certain destination or whether it is the location itself that manages to draw in tourists to gain economical benefits. It may seem that there are little worries in allowing a destination to become a popular choice among tourists, but managing the activities and ensuring that natural beauty and resources are not compromised should be a major objective for every tourism organisation. In order to assess the future proceedings of a country’s tourism industry, one needs to examine the sustainable methods that are practiced. It seems as though the amount of people travelling to Gambia for holidaying purposes has declined in recent times due to the global economic downturn (The Point, 2009).

1. Development of tourism in LDC’s

2. Enclavic Resort Structures

In terms of developing a country’s tourism structure it can be difficult for the nation to encourage growth on a wider scale when there is so much emphasis put on resort tourism. Page and Connell (2006) acknowledge the movement of tourists to remote areas of a destination and therefore not supporting the local economy. There is a major presence of foreign multi-national companies in the Gambia originating from Europe and the United States which use the country’s natural...