About forty selected participants, consisting of tour operators, guides and community representatives Friday participated in a fam-trip along the River Gambia, as part of their just concluded training on the NinkiNanka Trail (NNT) Responsible Tourism Standards and Branding Consult and launching of the Tourism SMEs ICT support.

Funded by the European Union Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) and organised by The Gambia Tourism Board (GTB), the NinkiNanka Trail Responsible Tourism Standards and Branding Consult and launching of Tourism SMEs ICT support training was held from 19th to 22nd June.

It was meant to engage local guides and tour operators in a collaborative approach to develop the NNT, as a responsible tourism branded product for The Gambia, develop knowledge and skills in responsible tourism guiding and interpretation required for the NNT and to develop knowledge and skills in digital marketing and branding.

The fam-trip took the participants to as far as Jangjanbureh, Kuntaur, Njaw, Kaur and Morgan Kunda and also participated in bird watching, interpretation exercise, responsible guiding and tour operator, NNT product interpretation and local cultural guidelines.

Lucy McCombes, consultant of the project explained that the word – NinkiNanka- is a mystical oral legend about dragon living along the River Gambia with many interesting stories linked with nature, culture and community-based products existing along the River Gambia.  

She said the impression of NNT is its unique selling points and understanding of diverse cultures in The Gambia.

“We have discovered some really lovely places. NNT is a rising-star that can have a lot of support for The Gambia Tourism Board.”

Gareth Jenkins, branding specialist at YEP, described the destination as incredibly unique and powerful.

He said he was amazed by the quality of nature, culture, history, and wonderful communities in The Gambia, which, he said made the country a strong package in terms of branding from the responsible tourism product view.

Jenkins said within his short stay in the country, he has gathered lot of information on destination Gambia including the places they visited different.

He added that in comparison with what he has seen in other places, The Gambia has incredibly motivated people with the quality and energy to help people.