The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is doubling down on efforts to transform the region into a competitive tourism hub with a week-long training program in Banjul, Gambia, aimed at streamlining policy implementation across its 15 member nations.
The ECOTOUR 19-29 initiative, running from March 17–21, 2025, will train policymakers and industry professionals on harmonizing heritage preservation, ecotourism standards, and regulatory frameworks—a bid to capitalize on West Africa’s untapped cultural and natural assets while addressing fragmented regional strategies.
The program builds on the ECOTOUR 19-29 Action Plan adopted in 2019, which seeks to position the bloc as a unified destination by 2030. Key focuses include community-led ecotourism projects, biodiversity conservation, and creating cross-border tourism circuits to lure international visitors. With tourism contributing just 7% of West Africa’s GDP—compared to 10% in East Africa—the training underscores ECOWAS’s urgency to close gaps in infrastructure, marketing, and policy coordination.
The initiative arrives as global travelers increasingly prioritize sustainability, offering West Africa a chance to rebrand beyond its struggles with security crises and political instability. Yet challenges loom: harmonizing regulations from Nigeria’s bustling cities to Senegal’s coast requires navigating stark economic disparities among member states. While Gambia’s beaches and Ghana’s historic forts hold promise, the region’s tourism potential remains hamstrung by visa barriers, uneven infrastructure, and a lack of regional air connectivity. Success hinges on whether ECOWAS can convert training workshops into tangible investments—a test of its ability to move from policy consensus to on-the-ground execution.
If effective, the push could diversify economies reliant on commodities and curb youth unemployment through hospitality sector growth. But without synchronized funding and private-sector partnerships, the risk is another well-intentioned blueprint gathering dust. For now, the Banjul sessions mark a tentative step toward rewriting West Africa’s tourism narrative—one that balances ambition with the gritty realities of regional cooperation.
