The Gambia Tourism Authority in conjunction with DGI Gambia Ltd is currently working out modalities to break the Polish market.

In an interview with this paper, the European Director of DGI Mr. Szymon Helpa said that his company is working with the GTA to promote and establish direct flights from Poland to the Gambia.

He said: "Already GTA are taking on board the current visa restriction from Poland with the view to removing them to more easily facilitate the movement of tourists from Poland to the Gambia.

"We would like to get 1500 tourists from Poland this coming tourist season. We want to bring them to the Gambia because the Gambia is quite different from other destinations; the people are friendly, the culture is rich and the environment is splendid."  

For his part, Mr. Steve Bailey Vaughan, the CEO of DGI Gambia Ltd said that their objective is to bring better quality tourists to the Gambia and not to promote mass tourism. "We do not wish to replicate the tourist market of Spain, Bulgaria, Florida or Cape Verde.

"We consider the Gambia to be a very special location that needs to be developed in the correct manner so that the environment could be protected as much as possible."