A River, A Monster, Responsible Tourism and Leeds Beckett University

The new community-based tourism trail along the River Gambia incorporates a wide range of natural and cultural heritage experiences and stories of the Ninki Nanka dragon from African folklore. 

Our team have supported the development of the trail since the very first pilot trip where our MSc student fieldtrip was used as an opportunity to contribute to the initial feasibility study funded by the World Bank. In more recent years, our staff and fieldtrips to The Gambia have supported other aspects of developing the trail using a responsible tourism management approach, such as strategic planning, product development, responsible tourism training for local guides and tour operators and interpretation planning.

It is hoped that this new Gambian responsible tourism product will help shape the future of rural tourism in The Gambia and contribute to a recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope to be running another Ninki Nanka responsible tourism fieldtrip for our students in 2022 to continue our long-term in-country partnerships, and provide opportunities for our students to both learn from and contribute to responsible tourism practice in The Gambia.
 
To find out more read the original article from Forbes Africa.
 
For further information about our MSc Responsible Tourism Management course and activities in The Gambia contact Lucy McCombes.