Community Based Tourism Training 2017-19​
From Guide Training to Community Practice
November 2017, tour guide training marked an important step in strengthening Janjanbureh’s role as an inland tourism destination. Visitors were already arriving through organised tours and independent travel, and improving guiding skills offered an immediate way to enhance visitor experience while building longer-term capacity for Community-Based Tourism (CBT)
.A small group of experienced local guides were selected to progress as Trainers of Trainers (ToTs). This approach supported peer learning and ensured that skills could be shared more widely within the community over time.
Trainer of Trainer Approach
From December 2017, a structured Trainer of Trainers programme was introduced. Training was delivered through a combination of local Gambian tourism professionals and visiting master trainers, working closely with an identified group of “active youth”.
Institutions involved included the Gambia Tourism Board, Institute of Travel and Tourism of The Gambia, Gambia Tourism and Hospitality Institute, and the National Council for Arts and Culture.
Training combined classroom learning with practical, field-based work and emphasised collaboration, reflection, and shared responsibility.
Village-based learning and CBT development
As part of the training process, active youth worked directly with nearby rural communities to explore locally led CBT opportunities. This included preparatory work focused on trust-building, inclusive community meetings, and listening to diverse perspectives across age and gender groups.
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Two villages became key learning sites:
Jamali, a Fula village accessible via Lamin Koto ferry, where guide training focused on helping community members build confidence to tell their own stories and design experiences rooted in everyday life.​​​
​Tabanani, a Mandinka village near the Senegal border, where cultural heritage, traditional skills, and community hosting were explored, including music, craft, cuisine, and women’s cultural practices.
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These village-based activities demonstrated how CBT could support income generation while safeguarding cultural values and local control.
Field Practice and Intensive Training
In 2018, an intensive training phase introduced practical CBT tools drawn from the Fresh from the Field handbook. Over an eight-day period, participants combined classroom learning with village-based practice, applying the 3S approach: Safety, Story, and Service.
Training sessions included field practice in additional communities, supported by local leadership structures such as village development committees and alkalos. Community members participated actively, strengthening links between guides, hosts, and local governance.
Sharing Learning and Wider Engagement
Training outcomes were shared with tourism stakeholders through structured presentations and discussions. Participants presented emerging CBT experiences and market research findings to representatives from tourism associations, government departments, tour operators, and training institutions.
This engagement helped position young people as active contributors to tourism development and strengthened support for CBT initiatives beyond Janjanbureh.
Extending experience beyond Janjanbureh
Learning from this training phase informed further CBT engagement in other regions, including work with youth organisations in Albreda and Juffureh, as well as informal CBT training exchanges in Guinea-Bissau.
Training topics across these contexts included cultural tourism, product development, guiding skills, food hygiene, handicrafts, waste management, and basic marketing — always grounded in CBT principles and local context.​
Continuing Development
The CBT training delivered between 2017 and 2019 strengthened local capacity, confidence, and collaboration. Rather than producing a single model, it supported a flexible, community-led approach that continues to evolve through ongoing learning and practice.
This training phase forms an important part of the foundation for Community-Based Tourism as it is practiced in Janjanbureh today.