Pa Lamin Sarr, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Smiling Coast Tours, a potential international tour operator, has revealed to the Daily Observer his plan to bringing his first group of tourists in July 2009.

A product of the University of the Gambia (UTG), Sarr now holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration, with a concentration on Business Marketing, from the Murray State University in Kentucky.

In an interview with this reporter at our offices, last Wednesday, disclosed that his aim is to bring the American markets nearer to The Gambia by bringing in American tourist, providing them with an experience of a lifetime. According to him, this will be done through organising packages of tours for Americans who want to visit The Gambia by taken them to different places. This, he said, will also give them first hand knowledge about the country.

"We hope to give tourists a real experience of the country by interacting directly with the local people so as to learn our rich cultural heritage and way of life," he said. "After attaining my Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Business Management, I looked into different opportunities to see which is best for me. I eventually chose tourism, being our number one provider in terms of GDP. I realised that US tourists mostly do not come to The Gambia, so I want to make that link with the US market.

What makes my company different from others in terms of operation is that we have an educational and volunteering aspects meant to augment our products." Education. According to Sarr, his company, being an international tour operator, with partners in the Gambia, also have plans to bring US students who may wish to earned credit for their adventure in the Gambia. Being a degree holder from the University of The Gambia, I thought it right to link UTG with other US universities.

"I feel it is my duty as a member of the  Alumni of the UTG to give something back to it, to help improve it to higher levels," he said. He also delved on the possibility of bringing US university students, professors and teachers for various programmes. This, he believes, will also help the UTG in terms of technical assistance.

US students can take the UTG curriculum to their professors and work with them to design a highly individualised course of independent study in the fields of Business Management, Humanities, sciences, Medicine, Conservation, community development or any other related course," he said.
Volunteering Aspect

On the issue of volunteering, Starr further stated that, it is a "products augment strategy" he intends to use to play his role in the socio-economic development of the country. "I will be working with international donors and philanthropists who wish to come to The Gambia and provide assistance to the citizens in any aspect of life." According to him, the biggest competitors are Senegal and Ghana, which are visited by a lot of American tourists.

"This is because of easy access to flight between US and these destinations. So if we are competing with them, we need to have a direct flight between the US and the Gambia, even it will not be a regular flight, but at least once a month. I know that the Gambia Tourism Authority (GTA) is doing all it can to make this a reality.

"With the Smiling Coast Tours, you become part of the community, get to know the local people and become much more than a tourists. We will offer people the opportunity to work with girls education, impoverished people, and in gender awareness.