Global Educational Research Journal

An Assessment of the Potential for Improving Local Economic Linkages with Hotels in the Gambia in the Areas of Food, Beverage, Furniture and Soft Furnishing

Abstract

Accepted 14^th December, 2015

The aim of this research is to assess the potential for improving local economic linkages with hotels in the Gambia in the areas of food, beverage, furniture and soft furnishing and identify practical measures that can be taken to increase the income of local suppliers. The specific objectives are: to identify the products hoteliers are purchasing from local suppliers and what is being imported, to determine how much is being spent by hoteliers on local goods in The Gambia compared to the amount spent on imported goods, to establish why goods are being imported, to identify imported goods that could instead be sourced locally, to identify barriers from both hotels and local suppliers that need to be overcome, to make recommendations that would divert the money paid to importers by hotels to local suppliers, thus increasing income for local suppliers. A literature review focusing on existing academic works on tourism linkages and PPT was carried out in order to identify the factors argued to affect the local economic linkages with the accommodation sector in The Gambia. The information gathered from the review helped develop a conceptual framework which was used to come up with a research design. The research information was gathered from primary data in form of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, combined with analysis of secondary data. The primary data was collected by questionnaires surveys designed for the hotels taking part in the study. The secondary data source included tourism publications in the Gambia as newsletters, technical reports, government policies, internet sites as well as literature accumulated through the Masters Course. Furthermore, a triangulation technique examining the information obtained from different sources was used to improve the verification and validity of the findings. The data collected was then analysed and evaluated in terms of the research objectives, conceptual framework, and any new emerging themes. Based on the key findings from the research, recommendations were made to improve the local economic linkages with the accommodation sector in the Gambian tourism industry.

Keywords: Assessment, Local Government linkages, Gambia,Food, Beverage, Furniture and Soft Furnishing.