Senegal has many tourist attractions, including its beaches, its rich cultural and religious heritage, its natural parks and its gastronomy. Although Senegal is a popular destination for tourists, it faces several challenges to remain competitive with emerging destinations such as Mauritania and Cape Verde. But it also faces the high cost of the destination, insecurity and unsanitary conditions.

"The Saly resort is the lung of Senegalese tourism. Our biggest problem is insecurity and noise pollution. In 1984, there were only two hotels, Savana and Palm Beach. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge. The tourist police could help us against noise pollution, insecurity, and motorcycle jakarta," explains Ibrahima Sarr, director of the Filaos and Saly Hôtel hotels, and general secretary of the resort committee.

At this time of year, the beaches of Saly were crowded with tourists, but currently, the clientele has decreased significantly. Hotels are struggling to fill up. Many people who make a living from this sector are afraid of closing down."

The president of Compact Yaatal, Boly Guèye, deplores the lack of support from the authorities. He notes the absence of supervision in all the activities initiated in the seaside area. The actors struggle to animate the resort with their low income.

An uncompromising diagnosis was made by the stakeholders, starting with tourist transporters, hoteliers, art sellers, restaurateurs, and several trades in the sector. Expensive destination, lack of support for stakeholders, non-training of guides, poor state of the roads, lack of tourist transport license: the resort is abandoned to its own devices.

Aspt to the rescue of actors

To improve its competitiveness, Senegal could focus on diversifying its tourism offering (ecotourism, cultural and religious tourism), improving infrastructure and a better international communication strategy. The stakeholders took advantage of the Nemeku Diwan initiated by the Senegalese Agency for Tourism Promotion (ASPT) to air their problems. In front of the director of ASPT, they returned to the causes of their problems.

With 3,000 beds, not counting residences, tourism wants to regain its letters of nobility. With the support of the ASPT, which wants to establish a new relationship with the actors, the latter hope to see the light at the end of the tunnel. During a tour of the Nemeku Diwan, the director of the ASPT presented the new policies of the agency aligned with the Senegal Horizon 2050 framework of the new powers.

Indeed, the State has ensured its willingness to revitalize the tourism sector through measures including the development of forward-looking tourism policies based on principles of good governance; the development of educational pedagogy around local values and the sociology of tourism; the promotion of integrated tourism rooted in the regions and their sociological realities; the strengthening of tourism managerial skills in relation to ecological determinants and local resources; the promotion of agrotourism (linking tourism to agriculture); the development of artisanal tourism (placing art at the heart of tourist attractiveness, creation of academies of tourist arts).

The ASPT intends to develop and socialize the tourist culture at the local level; popularize good ecotourism practices and principles with the promotion of a culture of hygiene reinforced by respect for public spaces and heritage such as parks, beaches, coastlines, etc., implement a quality training program structured around the project of creating art and tourism academies in the six centers; develop a certification and labeling program for local tourist products and services around a marketing and promotion plan for the territories; strengthen the administration of tourist promotion (FESOTS).

Doctor Adama Ndiaye, Director General of ASPT, explains that the federations of tourist offices and tourist information centres (FESOTS) will help to create synergies at the grassroots level.

"This will allow us to better support promotion at the community level. Since today we are in the territorialization of tourism with the seven poles. We want tourist houses in the seven poles. We also want to promote specialized medical hotels in Dakar, Saint-Louis, Mbour, Ziguinchor. There is also a digital project," indicates the director of ASPT.

Regarding security, the tourist police will see its resources reinforced, especially in a context where, a few days ago, one of the hotels on the Petite Côte, the Riu Baobab, was the target of criminals.