Gambia Targets 10,000 Malaysian Tourists By End-2017

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 (Bernama) -- The Gambian government has targeted 10,000 tourists arrivals from Malaysia by the end of next year, said Gambian Ambassador to Malaysia Abubacarr Jah. He said the target was realistic and he was confident it could be achieved through various ongoing promotional campaigns in Malaysia. "There are a lot of similarities between the two nations (Gambia and Malaysia), especially in the aspects of religion, climate and food preferences ... this is our strongest selling point in terms of attracting Malaysians," he told Bernama here Monday. Jah said talks would be held soon between the Gambian government and airline companies in Malaysia to continually increase the number of Malaysian tourists to Gambia. "We hope this new partnership will not only benefit Gambia but will also open up new business opportunities for the airline companies," he said. Gambia is located in the western part of Africa. It is one of Africa's smallest countries with over two million populations. Jah said the biggest challenge for the Gambian tourism industry now was to convince potential tourists that the country was safe to visit. "The key issue for us now is security. The pre-conceived idea of Africa being a war-torn region is not true as not all the countries there are at war. "Ever since its independence in 1965, Gambia hasbeen blessed with peace and harmony. The country is safe and secure," he said. --BERNAMA