 TOURISM
 GUINEA, A TOURISTIC ADVENTURE
Guinea is not a tourist destination. Its only tourists are businesspeople who only stay in Guinea from 3 to 7 days. There are only 1957 hotel rooms in the whole country. Tourism and hotel trade account for only 0.17% of the GDP. Conscious of the underdevelopment of the sector and the great potential it entails, the government created in October 1997 the Ministry of Tourism.
Guinea lacks an image, being often confused with Guinea Bissau or even Papua-New Guinea. But how to offer a distinctive image different from that of its more developed neighbors such as Senegal or Ivory Coast which boast more than 1 million Tourists every year? Due to the poor quality of its rare resources, Guinea wants to appeal to adventure travelers and those interested in eco-tourism. In that sense, Guinea has indeed much to offer: solitary white sand beaches, good trekking, hunting, magnificent cascades, majestic mountains and plains, entire villages of thatched roof huts and colorful tribes.
The zones selected for development by Mr. Kozo Zoumanigui , the new Minister for Tourism are the wide plains of the Fouta Djalon, in the center of the country; Bel Air beach, a white beach several kilometers long ; Loos Islands, an archipelago in front of Conakry which inspired Stevenson’s Treasure Island; the Everglades, a fabulous animal kingdom; Dalaba, the summer house of the French Governor during its colonial period; and old slave trade sites along the coast.
PRIVATE INVESTORS DEVELOP THE HOTEL SECTOR
A few private entrepreneurs have not waited for the government support. Mr. and Mrs. Hassane Aly Ghais, have invested all their life’s savings into the construction of a restaurant and bungalows by the Soumba Falls, in Dubreka, 65 Km away from Conakry. There it is possible to swim under the massive waterfalls and top it off with home made Lebanese cuisine.
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The French group Accor , also invested heavily in renewing the Grand Hotel de l'Independance at Conakry, today called Novotel. For years it was the PDG (communist party) hotel. When sold to Accor, it needed 2 years of works. Today, this 4 star hotel has 214 beds and meets international standards. Novotel is right by the sea, surrounded by graceful palm trees, and its restaurants are managed by Antoine, a French chef with a taste for the exotic. Novotel plays on its nearness to the city center, the ministries and the presidential palace. Unfortunately service is not that hot, despite Mr. Pascal Postaire’s efforts. Mr. Postaire, Novotel's Reception Manager, spends most of his time training mostly weak-willed and slow personnel. Results are starting to be visible, but there is still a long way to go.
CORRUPT POLICE TURN TOURISM INTO A NIGHTMARE
At middle term, Guinea expects to attract 35,000 Tourists per year. However, before that number can be reached, quite a few things need to be changed. Roads need to be improved. Photography is almost virtually prohibited. New regulations allowing to take photographs were announced in 1992, but the population is still conditioned by dictatorial times prohibiting the taking of photographs of literally anything. Along the countryside there are so many corrupt police controls that travelers will easily be discouraged by their greed and prepotency. After midnight, when all restaurants and night clubs are teeming, police controls springing everywhere, turning Conakry’s nightlife into a nightmare. If the government does not solve these serious obstacles, travelling around the country will hardly be worth the pain. |
GUINEA
