VOA标准英语2010年-Sierra Leone Working to Revive Tourism

Tourists, in small numbers, are returning to Sierra Leone's white sand beaches and clear blue waters, eight years after fighting ended in the western African country.

At Number 2 River Beach, south of the capital Freetown, a community youth group runs the resort and keeps the beach clean.

Daniel Macauley, the group's chief, says it helps ease local unemployment.

"Our community is basically a tourist destination," he said.  "So we decided¹ to at least start having people, accommodating them here." The resort employs about 40 villagers.

 

American Jim Dean is a regular at the beach. "We try to get out here as often as we can, you know, maybe once or twice a month," he said.  "There are several other beaches along this stretch, but this is a very special beach simply because of the sand and the view."

Although Sierra Leone has a lot to offer, the challenge is convincing tourists to come, says tour operator Bimbola Carrol.

"And in order to do that we need to be able to convince them that Sierra Leone is ready to welcome them," said Carrol.  "And a lot, for a lot of operators outside Sierra Leone, it's still sort of a - it's not in their books, if you know what I mean."

For a decade, until 2002, Sierra Leone was consumed by a brutal² conflict, with rebels fighting for control of the country, using the country's diamonds to fund the war. News footage of civilians³ who had their arms and legs cut off by rebels became the new image of Sierra Leone.  The war killed more than 50,000 people and the country's image is still stained.

"One of the challenges of tourism is the bad publicity⁴ that the country continues to get in terms of the image - there is still a negative image in the marketplace about Sierra Leone," said Cecil Williams, who directs the country's tourism board.  "People still believe it's not a safe destination, stability is still lacking, which is really not true."

The government is working to attract tour groups by advertising⁵ at international tourism fairs and by showing the world a different side of the country.

More than 5,000 tourists came to Sierra Leone last year, the tourism board says, up from about 1,000 nine years ago. Canadian tourist Carul Canzius was pleasantly surprised.

"I was one of those people that was a little afraid, but now that I've been here I've seen that it's quite stable and very safe as well," said Canzius.

Two European travel agencies now offer trips to Sierra Leone. The country's first travel guide was published last year.

 

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

3 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

4 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。