The Relationship between Sustainable Tourism Practices and Labor Law Compliance in The Gambia’s Tourism Sector

This comparative study examines the connection between sustainable tourism practices and labor law compliance in the Gambia tourism industry. Because tourism is an important pillar of Gambia's economy, this research will help understand how business enterprises in the region integrate sustainable practices after their respective labor laws. Ordinal Regression Analysis (PLUM) is used to detect perceptions of both employees and entrepreneurs regarding the effectiveness of continuous tourism initiative and compliance with labor regulations. The results show evidence that there is considerable dissatisfaction from both sustainable tourism initiatives or measures and from labor law compliance. More specifically, as such, 39.4% of respondents disagree with the perception of or disagree that tourism businesses follow local labor laws, call for important wages, work status and significant interval in the protection of employees' rights. Not only this, moreover, 62.8% of the respondents also expressed their dissatisfaction regarding the range of sustainable tourism practices put into operation within the region. This proves that the tourism industry in the Gambia has not effectively balanced the environment, social and economic interests within themselves but rather resource-deprived and momentary in occurrence. The negative correlation identified in the study indicates that sustainable tourism practices have a relation with labor law compliance. For this reason, businesses usually prefer either stability in the environment or social efforts at the cost of one or the other. The conflict shows that a stakeholder faces a challenge in applying permanent practices and adherence to labor rules by the tourism sector. The research reveals that while public-private initiatives and training programs are crucial for betterment, stricter enforcement and monitoring of compliance with labor laws are necessary from the findings. The study advocates to have more robust regulatory frameworks and continuous oversight that would ensure that sustainable tourism initiatives do not come at the cost of workers' rights. Well, this research offers great pieces of advice for potential policymakers, business owners, and stakeholders in The Gambia's tourism sector to create a framework for a more sustainable and labor-compliant industry.