By Foday Moriba Conteh
Three consultants from Journey and ACORN Consultancy firms based in South Africa were on the 8th June 2021 engaged by the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs in collaboration with the National Tourist Board (NTB). The purpose of the engagement, which was held at the Ministry’s Conference Room, was geared towards developing the national tourism marketing strategy of Sierra Leone.
This medium was made to understand that the World Bank Sierra Leone Economic Diversification Project (SLEDP) identified product development, marketing and promotion as one of the components which will take an integrated destination approach to improve the performance of Sierra Leone’s Tourism sector and also seek to develop a national tourism marketing strategy that will be feasible to implement and resonates with tourism stakeholders and target markets as well as embraces the importance of sustainability.
It is against such a backdrop that Journey and ACORN Consultants were recruited by the Project Fiduciary Management Unit (PFMU) to conduct series of consultative meetings with key stakeholders in the public and private sector, engage in site visitations and also organise workshops.
In his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry, Andrew Sorie welcomed the consultants to Sierra Leone stating how the Ministry and the Board are excited to host them in order to help get Sierra Leone where it needs to be. He recognised that Sierra Leone has one of the best cultural artefacts, tourism destinations but only need the international flair to add to what the country has , hence the engagement to let the world know about what Sierra Leone has.
Explaining the purpose of the engagement, the Deputy General Manager of NTB, Jeffery Moijueh expressed delight about the engagement, noting that the consultants are here to hold consultations about the tourism sector to meet international standards.
Presenting the background of the Sierra Leone Economic Diversification Project (SLEDP), the Project Coordinator of SLEDP, Mary Jalloh said the marketing strategy worth the support that was requested by the Ministry and NTB, noting that she is excited that they were able to contract Journey and ACORN consultants with their wealth of experience in developing a marketing strategy for other destinations.
The Director of Tourism at the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Mohamed Jalloh said they are very pleased to receive the consultants, noting that Sierra Leone has tremendous tourism assets which he said have not been given the publicity it deserves. He presented a brief overview of what the Ministry has been doing for the consultants to have a proper understanding of the activities of the Ministry.
The Lead Consultant of Journey Consultancy Firm, Mike Fabricio said they are excited to be in Sierra Leone. He commended the Minister for her passion for tourism saying that they are here to listen and look to what Sierra Leone has in terms of tourism. He appreciated the citizen’s hospitality and also congratulated the Minister for implementing the visa on arrival move which he said made it easier for them to get to Sierra Leone. He presented an overview of the Journey Consultancy Firm saying that they have done more than 140 marketing projects in 55 countries mainly in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and many other places in the world.
In her address, the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Dr Memunatu Pratt said she is extremely excited that this is happening and applauded the consultants for coming to Sierra Leone as it will be a catalyst for all that the Ministry and NTB have been doing. She thanked the outgoing World Bank Country Manager, Gayle Martin for making this a reality.
She pointed out that tourism is not having the much needed attention before now, but that has changed because tourism is now well-positioned politically, socially and nationally to thrive. She stated that this marketing project is coming at a time when they would have a national strategy that can speak not only to international domestic tourism but speak to domestic tourism as well.
She maintained that in developing the marketing strategy, they want to see value for money when the strategy is been implemented. She maintained that although digital marketing has been challenging lot has been done in promoting Sierra Leone’s tourism.
