“Don’t come for sex tourism!” – such an official appeal to tourists – more precisely to female tourists, and first of all from Europe, was published by the authorities of the West African country of Gambia. The fact is that the country has become a “magnet” for elderly European female tourists who go to the country for young men. The country’s authorities have decided that the “supply of young lovers” is not at all the kind of tourism that they want to be famous for.
“We want tourists who enjoy our country and are interested in its culture, but we don’t want tourists who come to the country just for sex,” said the head of the Gambia Tourism Authority, Ebubekir Kamara. At the same time, we should note that the Gambia, to put it mildly, is not a rich country in Africa, on the contrary, the country is ranked among the poorest countries on the continent. That’s why many people find the “quiet” income from sex tourism of elderly European women very attractive and has been flourishing since the 90s of the last century.
According to the media, European female tourists “of age” get to know young men from the Gambia mainly on the Internet and social networks. Then interested tourists come to the country. “Due to high unemployment and low wages, young men in The Gambia prefer to have sex with older European women for a more comfortable life,” the officials explained.
On average, such a young lover earns about 200 pounds sterling (about 240 euros or about 10,000 hryvnias) in a few days. In The Gambia, this is roughly equivalent to a month’s salary, so people are willing. And it is not a fact that the efforts of tourism officials will be able to change anything here.