Gambia recorded a total of 246,000 tourists in 2020, ranking 153rd in the world in absolute terms.
That smaller countries regularly perform lower in a comparison of the absolute number of guests, is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Gambia, the result is much more comparable picture: With 0.093 tourists per resident, Gambia ranked 123rd in the world. In Western Africa, it ranked 2nd.
In 2020, Gambia generated around 53.00 million US dollars in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 2.6 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 6 percent of all international tourism receipts in Western Africa.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2020 spent about 182 US dollars.
Development of the tourism sector in the Gambia from 1995 to 2020
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in the Gambia each year. Anyone who spends at least one night in the country but does not live there for more than 12 months is considered a tourist. Insofar as the survey included the purpose of the trip, business trips and other non-tourism travel purposes have already been excluded. The number of people passing through within the same day, and e.g., crew members of ships or flights are also not considered tourists in most countries. If the same person travels in and out more than once within the same year, each visit counts again.
The red line represents the average of all 15 countries in Western Africa.
Revenues from tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 28.00 million USD, or about 3.6 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 45,000 tourists at that time and roughly 622 USD per person. Within 25 years, the country's dependence on tourism has increased drastically. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales were $157.00 million billion, 8.7 percent of gross national product. Thus, each visitor spent an average of $253 on their vacation in the Gambia.
In 2020, tourist receipts plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the $157.00 million billion (2019), only $53.00 million billion remained. This is a 66 percent decrease in the Gambia.
All data for Gambia in detail
Year
Number of tourists
Receipts
% of GNP
Receipts per tourist
2020
246,000
53.00 m $
2.9 %
215 $
2019
620,000
157.00 m $
8.7 %
253 $
2018
552,000
174.00 m $
10.42 %
315 $
2017
522,000
128.00 m $
8.5 %
245 $
2016
450,000
88.00 m $
5.9 %
196 $
2015
449,000
92.00 m $
6.7 %
205 $
2014
156,000
110.00 m $
8.9 %
705 $
2013
171,000
78.00 m $
5.7 %
456 $
2012
157,000
104.00 m $
7.3 %
662 $
2011
106,000
86.00 m $
6.1 %
811 $
2010
91,000
80.00 m $
5.2 %
879 $
2009
142,000
64.00 m $
4.4 %
451 $
2008
147,000
80.20 m $
5.1 %
546 $
2007
143,000
87.00 m $
6.8 %
608 $
2006
125,000
69.00 m $
6.5 %
552 $
2005
108,000
59.00 m $
5.7 %
546 $
2004
90,000
51.00 m $
5.3 %
567 $
2003
89,000
58.00 m $
11.91 %
652 $
2002
81,000
2001
57,000
2000
79,000
1999
96,000
1998
91,000
1997
85,000
76.00 m $
9.5 %
894 $
1996
77,000
67.00 m $
7.9 %
870 $
1995
45,000
28.00 m $
3.6 %
622 $
Our data on tourist numbers, revenues and expenditures are based on information from the World Tourism Organization. However, to ensure international comparability, the data for some years or countries were manually researched and corrected if they obviously included visitors without overnight stays. In these cases, the data were taken from the official communications of the respective national tourism authorities.
The World Tourism Organization additionally points out that in some countries, the number of tourists is only counted at airports, while in others they are also counted at border crossings or even hotels. A comprehensive and reliable indication is therefore hardly possible in any country.
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