The National Tourist Board (NTB) is a critical part of the tourism sector. Fatmata Carew is the General Manager of the National Tourist Board.
Under the supervision of the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, they have been closely working in ensuring that Government’s programmes, agendas and strategic plans and policies are met.
According to the Minister of Tourism, the National Tourist Board is an important institution in rebranding the country. She notes that Sierra Leonean entrepreneurs are more confident in the sector because they have re-written the narrative in a way that more jobs and opportunities are being created.
NTB collaborates with the Directorate of Tourism and that of Culture at the Ministry to have synergy in their activities.
Working in synergy with the Minister and her Deputy, Madam Carew has shown leadership in repositioning the sector, now making headway in terms of product development, with nine touristic sites under development by the EIF and the World Bank.
Though staff capacity is limited and budget allocated to the institution is limited, NTB has a committed staff and a very supportive Management team who are busy implementing the UNDP and Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) programmes and their international programmes.
The Director of Tourism, Mr. Mohamed Jalloh notes that they are blessed with good leadership which he said is needed for any activity and project to succeed.
Domestic tourism is now the order of the day and more establishments are coming up due to support from the NTB leadership.
Had it not been for COVID-19, the sector would be far gone, as many tourism policies have been developed. With the repositioning work being done by the Ministry and NTB, Sierra Leone is now ranked highly in the World Tourism market.
NTB now has space both at local and international platforms to carry out their mandate that speaks to marketing Sierra Leone.
NTB’s mandate is to develop and promote sustainable and responsible tourism activities in Sierra Leone that will foster viable economic growth; and to develop and promote sustainable and responsible tourism activities in Sierra Leone that will foster viable economic growth.
GM Fatmata Carew who joined NTB in April 2005 and served as Marketing and Public Relations Officer and in 2009 Marketing and PR Manager. She became Deputy GM in 2015, following public recruitment process. She holds a post-graduate degree from the Institute of Public Administration & Management (USL) – Msc, Development Management – 2009 – 2011 and a BA Honors , Political Science from FBC – 2000 – 2004.
Her industry knowledge covers the fields of: Marketing, Public Relations, Management, Marketing Strategy, Social Media Marketing, Customer Service, Leadership. She also acquired Diploma in Destination Marketing in 2008 and Diploma in Sustainable Tourism Development and Promotion in 2013.
