During her visit to The Gambia on 27 August 2026, H.E. Ms. Nipa Nirannoot, Ambassador-designate of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Republic of Senegal, hosted a working lunch at The Thai Restaurant with Mr. Alhaji Sheikh Tejan NYANG, Founder of the Institute of Travel and Tourism of The Gambia (ITTOG) and Chairman of the ECOWAS Tourism Committee on Hotel Classification and Tourism Standards. Officials from the Royal Thai Embassy, ITTOG instructors, and a coordinator from the Ninki Nanka Encounters Foundation also attended the meeting.

The Ambassador commended The Gambia’s continued efforts to strengthen its tourism capacity and highlighted the Thailand–Africa Initiative (TAI), under which Thailand stands ready to support The Gambia through the exchange of knowledge and experiences in tourism development. She proposed an online consultation among the Royal Thai Embassy, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), ITTOG, and the International Trade Centre (ITC) to explore ways to build upon the community leaders’ training programme on low-carbon tourism held in The Gambia in 2025 with support from Thai agencies. The proposed cooperation would focus on sharing Thailand’s knowledge and experiences in carbon reduction in the tourism industry. The Ambassador also underscored the importance of promoting meaningful and constructive participation of women and youth in the tourism industry.

Mr. NYANG expressed his appreciation for Thailand’s tourism expertise and human resources and welcomed the Ambassador’s proposal. He also highlighted The Gambia’s economic and social challenges and ITTOG’s efforts to strengthen the country’s tourism capacity, particularly by creating employment and income opportunities for local communities and young people, as well as fostering an enabling environment for tourism development. Key areas include improving connectivity and ease of travel, accommodation and hotel facilities, and strengthening the knowledge and capacities of tourism organisations and personnel in cooperation with local communities.

The meeting reaffirmed the shared commitment of Thailand and The Gambia to strengthening cooperation in sustainable tourism development, with a focus on knowledge exchange, capacity building, community empowerment, and the meaningful participation of women and youth.