By: Modou Touray
Vice president of Senegambia Tourist Taxi Drivers Association, Mr Lamin Dibba, has revealed that old tourist ladies improve their lives by marrying them as well as providing them with humanitarian assistance. He was reacting to a call by local tourism officials who claimed that the old ladies are exploiting young people.
“They marry and buy us compounds or houses, deposit huge money into our bank accounts and sometimes facilitate our traveling abroad.”
Mr Dibba said youth unemployment is high, therefore marrying old tourist ladies uplift their livelihood status.
Most of the unemployed youths frequently visit tourism development area to scout for an opportunity to meet tourist ladies. “If youths have chances, crimes will drastically reduce because they will be able to take care of them rather than stealing and depending on other family members.”
According to some data on tourism, the sector is vital to The Gambia’s economy. In total, it creates some 139,000 jobs or provides almost 19 per cent of total employment, This figures are contained in a 2017 report by the World Travel and Tourism Council measuring both direct and indirect economic activity.
“When you marry a foreign lady, you are not only expanding your culture, but also the culture of all of your loved ones. When you introduce your new foreign partner to everyone, you’re giving them the opportunity to have contact with a person and a culture that they might never have had the occasion to meet before.”
Mr Dibba, who was speaking on behalf of his association, said to single out old tourist ladies and referring to them as exploiters is a discriminatory remark, arguing that love has no age.
“The old ladies don’t force anyone, they convince you and if you agree you can marry because most of them are here for leisure ”
The findings show that the main sources of discrimination in hospitality and tourism services include sexism, racism, ethnocentrism, lookism and ego-altruism. Discrimination-related research has temporal and geographical variations.
The Gambia is a popular and affordable all year-round destination attracting tourists in search of sun, sand, sea, nature and varied cultural experiences among other things.
“We are taxi drivers. We get a lot of money from old ladies because they spend a lot than younger tourists. They are mostly retired workers and they have enough money to enjoy. If you restrict them from coming to the Gambia, the amount of money earned from tourism will be low.”
Taxi business helps to stimulate the local economy by transporting tourists all over the town and to major tourist attractions. This is usually where there are lots of shops, cafes and restaurants. So, taxi business helps facilitate trade, services and movement.
Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal, business and other purposes.
