I recommend The Gambia as holiday destination any day – Kencho Omojafor

Kencho Omojafor is no stranger in world tourism business. As manager, Corporate Strategy for Arik Air, he is widely travelled and always at home in most of the world’s famous destinations. In this interview, Omojafor takes a critical look at the concept of holiday among Nigerians and the destinations best suited for them. Excerpts. 

Nigerians’ attitude towards holidays

I think as Nigerians, we have different ideas of holiday. For a lot of people, when they plan their holiday, they want to go to New York, London or South Africa. I think this is also based on experiences, knowledge, as well as, the geographical weather. People are not checking or are not sure about what is in Accra on the West Coast. Traders who buy fish, textiles and things like that go to Dakar. But in terms of a holiday destination; somewhere to rest and do tours, I think there is need for creating lots of awareness especially for Nigerians, to go to a place like The Gambia. It is a very beautiful country and for me, it is a perfect destination for holiday- a place to rest, eat and relax.

 Shopping instead of resting while on holiday especially in London-is it the right attitude?

 Probably not; maybe because I spend most of my time in London, but London, to me has never been a holiday destination and I do not think I will have a change of mind. It is somewhere you can go maybe for a little bit of shopping. I am not going to travel to London to go and rest. First of all it is more expensive to get to London. I will rather pay less or half of that money and stay in a very good 4 or 5-star hotel and rest elsewhere. That is the whole concept, the whole idea of a holiday. It is a break from what you normally do, a break from your work, it could even be from the family. It is time you take out for yourself or for your family. Banjul, the capital of The Gambia, for me is the place I will want to take my family to. Everybody works in Lagos, and it is difficult to be in Lagos and get that amount of time you want to spend with your family because you are working. But if you can just take five days or seven days off work, and take your family along to a place like Banjul it is a lot cheaper than going outside the continent.

 What makes Banjul different from famous global destinations?

 What makes Banjul different from those places is that it is very laid back. The weather is beautiful, it is very clean, the people are very nice, there is a lot to do in Banjul, there are a lot of good restaurants and hotels, so you can do everything you want in Banjul. It is not a very big country so you can see all the sites you want to see and it is a safe place. For me, these are what differentiate The Gambia from Europe or American destinations.

 Do you recommend The Gambia to Nigerians for holiday or rest?

 I will strongly recommend Banjul to anybody, not just Nigerians. But the sad thing about the place is that 80 to 90 percent of the tourists are from outside of the continent. Majority of the tourists, are from Europe and that is a bit depressing for me because we are so close to Banjul from here. Arik Air, as you know, operates three times a week into Banjul so, that opportunity is there for people who want to take advantage of it. It is a lot cheaper for Nigerians to fly to The Gambia than it is for Europeans.

 How affordable is the Arik fare to The Gambia?

A hundred thousand naira (N100, 000) for a return ticket, economy, to a different country is just about right. I say so because it depends on when you buy the ticket. If I want to go on a holiday, I plan ahead. I will book the ticket two to three months ahead. Now, that it is cheaper, I think I will get a return (ticket) for about N60, 000 to N65,000. But if I am buying a return ticket two or three days before I travel, naturally it is about demand and supply, so it will be more expensive. If the holiday is planned properly and on time, one can fly to Banjul with the flight, holiday, hotel, transport and feeding for around N100,000.

 Project as a tour operator?

 It is a company called Arik Explorer and what we are planning to do is to make travel easier and more convenient for our esteemed customers. What we want to do is to provide a medium where they can buy ticket and book. But we want to provide more than just the ticket. We want to provide seats, transfers, hotels and tours. There are three angles to this. The first angle is the flight and hotels in and around Nigeria to all of Arik destinations. We want to make it easier for passengers, on entering our offices to book a flight and hotel.

 Now we are in talks with a number of hotels around the country who are interested in the project. In turn, they are willing to provide our clients huge amount of discounts on rooms. The second part of it is the West Coast. The number one destination that we want to sell based on our experiences and on the data we have gathered from our passengers is Banjul. It is a virgin island almost undiscovered. A lot of people do not know about it. Our plan is to expend our experiences to the people.   A lot of people do tell me ‘I want to go on break, just get away’. The next thing I ask is ‘where do you want to go’ and hear ‘I want to go to London.’ I am like ‘why don’t you go somewhere in Africa where you can relax? Everybody can encourage tourism in Africa. It is affordable and that is very important.

 The third angle to this is to Europe, that will be the third phase but we are not going to roll out until a year or two. But initially it will be in and around Nigeria and the West Coast. Those two geographical areas will be our initial target.

 Is holiday in The Gambia for most Nigerians like being at home? 

Not at all!  Gambia is not home. I am not going to pretend it is like home. It is not like Nigeria. The very first time I got to Banjul, I likened it to the Caribbean Island in terms of colours, food, weather, the beaches. It is nothing like Nigeria. It is an explosion of culture, of colours, experiences with different nationalities. It is a very happy place for me. There are a lot of issues going around here in Nigeria-there are electricity issues, you have got the roads, water problem, and so many things. But The Gambia, for me, is a very happy place and I will want other people to share the experience. The people and their government are very welcoming to tourists. They treat everybody like royalties, and I think we can learn a lot from them here in Nigeria.

 Is The Gambia a haven for honeymoon and love seekers?

 Yes, I met a lot of people there who were getting married. I met people on their honeymoon, on their anniversary and lovers who just want to get away, not just Nigerians. There were people from Germany, United Kingdom, Americas, Spain; I even met people from Greece. It is just like an annex to Europe and to me that is not good enough.