Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to assist the development of the tourism sector in The Gambia.

The then Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, Michael Ellis MP, had a useful bilateral meeting with his Gambian counterpart, Minister Hamat Bah, in the margins of a meeting of Commonwealth Ministers during the Edinburgh International Culture Summit last summer. They discussed a range of matters concerning the importance of tourism to the economy and future prosperity of The Gambia, and to the wider Commonwealth. The Government remains willing to explore all avenues of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, including with the Commonwealth institutions and UNESCO, to support the development of sustainable tourism in The Gambia, and more widely across Africa.

I welcome the Noble Lord’s recent meeting with President Barrow, and the efforts of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to strengthen democratic institutions in The Gambia and across the Commonwealth.