Senegal: Senegal Tourism Profile

Travel and tourism is vital for economic development

Senegal has the required assets for a blooming tourism industry. It is only a few hours away from major tourist markets hours away from Western Europe and about hours away from the East Coast of the United States. Besides it is a sunny country claiming additional than 3000 hours of sunshine yearly. Amount forms of tourism can be experienced in Senegal seaside resorts (leisure, aquatic sports, horseback riding, discovery and additional), cultural tourism, bird watching, sport tourism (hunting, scuba diving), ecotourism, historic museums, gorgeous natural sites major game parks and reserves, diversified fauna and flora to name a few.

Despite various influences (Western influence due to a long French presence in West Africa, Middle Eastern influence due to a tradition of multiple exchanges with North Africa and Arab Nations), Senegal has its own brand of exotic music, food and customs that gives it the right dash of spice.

Its weather is tropical, hot and humid:
- the rainy season (May to November) has some strong southeast winds;
- the dry season (December to April) is dominated by hot, dry, humid and harmattan winds.
Senegal is home to some of the majority photographed beaches in the world.

The reefs and cays of the coastal are heaven for divers, holding out the promise of such extraordinary sightings of the underworld.
Dakar, the melting pot capital city, is of the busiest cruise ships port in Africa and boasts an exciting restaurant and club scene, inclunding duty-free shopping.

Dakar
DAKAR, the capital of Senegal is a modern city of additional than 1.5 million people with beautiful contemporary buildings and some historical colonial houses.It is a vibrant city with active open-air markets, cafe terraces, a wide range of hotels, delicious food and a great night life.
You can discover Dakar by taking a walk along the ocean or the busy city streets.
Art lovers will find an abundance of galleries, artists' studios, museums, and festivals.
Dakar is a shopper's paradise and exquisite crafts can be found in markets, on the streets, and in stores everywhere.
For the sport enthusiast, this city by the beach offers amount water sports and golf, tennis, biking, and additional.

Goree Island
About twenty minutes ride from Dakar, the island of Goree, deeply rooted in the history of the slave trade. From the beginning of the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century, men, women, and children were gathered on this small piece of land, locked up in cells before being shipped away to the New World.
The island was seized by the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French, and the British amount of whom participated in the trade. Forts and cannons attest of the island's violent past.

Saly Portudal
Just hour and a half south of Dakar lies the domain of Saly: 1,480 acres of trees, lawns, and exotic flowers surrounded by baobabs and fragrant eucalyptus.
Scores of hotels and luxury residences are spread along the beach, each with air-conditioning, swimming pools, restaurants, and bars. Discos, a casino, a horse stable, a Deep sea fishing center, a biking center and a shopping area are common to the hotels.

Saint-Louis
The former capital of Senegal, looking very much like New Orleans, Saint Louis was built in 1659 on the continent, an island, and a peninsula. It is a city rich in history with narrow streets, wooden balconies and beautiful patios.
Saint Louis was the major trading port during the eighteen and nineteen centuries and, like Goree Island was a major slave depot. The city can be visited on foot or in a traditional horse-drawn carriage. Its festivals, cultural life, and its joyous celebrations of holidays have gained a well-deserved reputation.

• The region of Thies, because of its demographical and economic significance ; it is Senegal’s second region, where tourism and handicraft play major roles, particularly in the Petite Côte sector(70km from Dakar), which offers activities such as balneotherapy, balnear tourism, cultural tourism, fishing, sportfishing, golf);
• The “Route des Niayes” , where the Pink Lake is located, 40 km from Dakar ; this lake owes its name to the colour of its water full of mineral salts;
• The central-western part of the country with the “Iles du Saloum” - Saloum Islands- is developing thanks to its eco-tourism, hunting and fishing activities;
• The northern region, whose capital is the city of Saint-Louis, has a 200km coast of fine sand ; it could be a major axis for tourism development; significant investments for the development of infrastructures are planned in this area;
• Inclunding its balnear capital, the south has a huge potential for cultural and green tourism;
• The southern-eastern region has huge potential, as far as hunting, and cultural tourism are concerned.
• The implementation of the new strategy of development of this sector could promote a new dynamic in the Senegalese tourism, which would possibly lead to privatisation of the national parks and sanctuaries:
• Together with the Saint-Louis region, the « Petite Côte » region, at around kilometre in the south-east of Dakar has a lot of historical traditions and natural wonders, with the national park of Gandiole, the Langue de Barbarie, and the birds park of Dioudj.
• The national park of the Saloum Islands, 150 km south-east of Dakar, is an exceptional site where water and land intermingle; this site boasts its mangrove vegetation, and a high concentration of marine and lake birds.
• The naitonal park of Niokolo-Koba, 650 km east of Dakar, is a wildlife sanctuary with African large cats; it has amazingly beautiful landscapes and stretches over million hectares.;

Other opportunities:

• Thalassotherapy and care: In Dakar and the inner country, additional and additional spa centres are emerging;
• Luxury balnear tourism with 200 km of virgin beaches in the north, and 300 km in the south ;
• Leisure: golf, tours in the dunes of the large coast, water sports.

• Méridien-Président hotel;
• The building of several prestigious hotels planned in the near future
• A cultural industry is emerging thanks to the synergy between tourism and art. Three festivals have been running for a couple of years now :
• The Saint-Louis jazz festival;
• The Dakar carnival;
• SIMOD (International fashion week of Dakar)
• Such development in the tourism sector is supported by appropriate training in this field:
• The training staff in tourism were instructed outside the country; they mainly graduated in Europe, USA etc. and have a Bac+4 or 5 level of education.
• The support staff has Bac+2 diplomas (tertiary DUT- comparable to year 2 of Bachelor degree) obtained at the Dakar Cheikh Anta DIOP university - UCAD), BTS (comparable to BTEC Higher National Diploma standard) in Tourism or hotel management, issued by the “Ecole nationale de formation hôtelière et touristique” (ENFHT ) – National school of hotel management - or by ESTHOS ;