- small business skills
- accountancy, book keeping, IT
- marketing and sales
- report writing for fundraising and research
- training trainers
- hospitality industry
- web design
The project
Tourism offers much-needed income to poor countries. But who gets the holiday money? This project supports an award winning NGO that helps small tourism operators gain a livelihood through training and promotion.
ASSET (The Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism) was established in 2000 to bring together, advocate for, and promote a large number of small enterprises that are active in the tourism industry in The Gambia.
These enterprises include craft market vendors, official tourist guides, juice pressers and fruit sellers, eco camps, horticulture initiatives, guest houses, small hotels and community associations – ASSET is now supporting, training and representing over 80 members – individuals, small businesses, community organizations.
Volunteers will work with the ASSET team to build the strength of the association and train ASSET staff to help them train local people. Volunteers will work to design simple training modules that ASSET can use to build the capacity of its members. This will involve working directly wioth members to identify need and appropriate training modules. Your skills are needed to help make tourism an even greater force for good in The Gambia – one of the poorest but also one of the friendliest countries in Africa.
ASSET gives individuals and small scale tourism providers a voice, helping them achieve a living through tourism, and campaigning to ensure that a fair chunk of the tourism dollar reaches the local economy and the local community. ASSET also works at government and international level to ensure that the adverse impacts of tourism are minimised and that maximum benefits are gained by local people and their communities. ASSET’s poverty alleviation work has been recognised by the responsible tourism awards.
This is pro poor tourism at its best!
ASSET's aim is to assist and support small-scale enterprises in tourism to trade fairly and pursue sustainable development, which contributes to the conservation of the physical environment and the social and economic welfare of the community in The Gambia. ASSETs goals are to:
• Contribute to improving the tourism product in The Gambia and help to bring development for the country
• Provide assistance to members with product development, marketing, training, quality control and access to finance
• Work collaboratively, promote networking and joint activities amongst members
• Develop partnerships with government, other institutions and external organisations where appropriate
• Contribute to sustainable development within the Gambian Tourism Industry using principles and practice of Fair Trade in Tourism
• Identify appropriate quality standards for members
• The protection of small-scale business interests in the mass market tourist industry English for business
Context
The Gambia is one of the smallest and poorest countries in the world. It is also one of the friendliest – perhaps the most attractive “real” Africa to visit. Gambians demonstrate a genuine warmth and tolerance for other cultures. This may be the perfect place for first time travelers to Africa.
More than half of the 1.7 million population lives on less than a dollar a day, with most of the population (over 75%) surviving on subsistence agriculture. Life expectancy is a staggering 55 and the average age is 17.
The ASSET offices are based in Fajara the affluent suburb of the capital Banjul, and the vast majority of its membership are within a few hours of Fajara.
"Phew! we've been here nearly a week and our feet have hardly touched the ground. We've met many of the movers and shakers in the responsible tourism field here and been very impressed with what they are doing.We visited the Ecotourism lodge on the coast near the southern border with Senegal, at the end of a new trunk road which has just opened up the area. It was most impressive with grand domed lodges built from compressed earth brick which use hardly any cement. The design also aims to use very little timber and the toilets are all self composting and using no water. Power is supplied by wind turbine and solar panels and they source their vegetables and other foods locally. Eventually they may well grow their own. the site is only part finished at present and Hugh has been set the task of calculating how one third of the operating profits can be transferred over to the local community for development projects." Volunteers Hugh and Joan
“Gambian hospitality is overwhelming – I spent 3 months there, volunteering, a few years ago. (It's where we conceived people and places - read more) – what little people had they wanted to share with me.
I'm so excited to be working with ASSET, I was in the Gambia shortly after its launch. The founding team are inspirational - it does important work and I know that volunteers can, with skills share, help local people generate enough wealth to care for themselves and their family….and in the Gambia the family is all. “ Sallie Grayson people and places programme director
