By Snike Mzullah –

TOURISM is one of the sectors which received huge bashing at the height of COVID-19 in 2020 resulting in a drastic slump in all of its indicators like revenue, workforce and tourist arrivals.
Generally, the tourism is a key economic sector that delivers revenues, employment and tax benefits.
The slump due to COVID-19, therefore, was a blow the economy in general and left telling effects among the workforce.
Three years down the lane in 2023, the sector seems to have staged a rebound.
The recovery could mainly be attributable to various measures the current government administration has put in place.
Tourism in Zambia has been considered as an important part of the country’s economic development strategy especially now with increased interest from the Government to raise the bar of the sector to the highest standards.
The sector has so far played a significant role in contributing to economic growth of the country and job creation.
Therefore, to ensure its sustainable growth, the ‘New Dawn’ Government administration in the last two years continued rendering financial support to the Ministry of Tourism to promote tourism in the country.
According to Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), in 2023 Government allocated K589 million to the Ministry of Tourism for tourism developments such as infrastructure, tourism products, promotion and marketing and wildlife management.
To ease access to tourist destinations across the country, Government allocated K300 million towards the upgrading of
provincial aerodromes.
Northern was among the provinces where Government constructed an airport in Kasama.
Provincial Permanent Secretary Bernard Mpundu commended the government for the airport whose construction works had started 14 years ago but was stalled under the Patriotic Front administration.
Mr Mpundu was hopeful that the expected launch of flights to the province during the course of last year would help boost tourism in the region.
According to ZANIS, Mr Mpundu disclosed that Proflight had indicated its willingness to start flying to the province in March this year and will be flying twice a week to Kasama.
Last year, Government also embarked on upgrading tourism infrastructure in various areas in the country, key among them were the Kasaba Bay and Liuwa National Park to sustain and create new jobs in the
sector.
In line with the Zambia Tourism Master Plan’s goal of effective destination promotion, the Government allocated K50 million towards tourism marketing.
The Zambia Tourism Agency (ZTA) was optimistic of sustained tourism growth driven by increased budgetary support from Government for marketing activities.
The agency, therefore, played a major role in unlocking the tourism sites across the country.
Some potential tourism sites visited by ZTA were being televised on ZNBC television stations as way of marketing them.

ZTA also launched the 2023 Marketing Plan for Destination Zambia, an initiative which aims at creating integrated and holistic strategies to promote and boost demand for the country’s tourism through increased arrivals.
According to ZTA the plan was anchored on the Ministry of Tourism strategy policy, the Tourism Master Plan 2018-2038, the Eighth National Development Plan as well as the ZTA strategic plan for 2022 to 2026.
Tourism and Arts minister, Rodney Sikumba said during the launch of the marketing plan that the government had provided an enabling environment for more private sector participation in tourism sector.
During the year under review, the Government also effected the waiving of visa requirements for tourists from the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Norway, Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, the Gulf States and the European Union.
The move resulted in a 23-per cent increase in international tourist arrivals in the country recorded in the third
quarter of 2023 as compared to the 2022 statistics.
Zambia had projected 1.5 million arrivals for international tourists for 2023 while a 20 per cent growth in domestic activities was projected in the country.
Out of the projected 1.5 million arrivals for international tourists over 1.2 million had been recorded by the end of October 2023 making it almost obvious that the 1.5 million target had been achieved by December 31.
The Tourism Minister announced the figures and was confident that as 2023 ends the country would exceed the 1.5 million target of international arrivals for 2023.
Hotels and Catering of Zambia (HCAZ) Siavonga branch chairperson Philip Nkonde observed the increase in international tourist’s arrivals in the district and the country at large.
Mr Nkonde notes that tourist destinations like Livingstone, Siavonga, Samfya and the Lower Zambezi among other places benefited economically due to influx of tourists that visited the tourism sites.
He pays tribute to the New Dawn administration’s efforts to grow the tourism sector.
To attract investment into the tourism sector, the Government suspended customs duty on imports of selected fixtures and fittings, capital equipment, machinery, and safari game viewing vehicles for a three-year period from 2023 to 2026.
The PBO indicates that K60.4 million was estimated to be the revenue loss resulting from this measure in 2023.
Government also released funds to the National Heritage Conservation Commission for infrastructure development and placement of signage at various sites across the country.
There are currently 4,000 heritage sites in the country, out of which 105 are declared as national monuments, six are on the tentative world heritage list and one is designated as a world heritage site.
Tourism Permanent Secretary Evans Muhanga stresses that the Government views the resources as key nodes for economic growth, poverty alleviation and employment creation.
Further, the Government in the same year took a significant step to support the tourism industry by abolishing the K3,000 retention fees for tourism businesses.
The abolishment of retention fees in the tourism industry came as a relief to challenges the hospitality players were facing.
Hospitality players praise the Government for the right move which will reduce the cost of doing business and create employment thereby improving the sustainability of the tourism sector.
A lodge owner Esnely Kayuni of Siavonga welcomes the abolition of tourism retention fees saying that the fees were making lodge owners miserable.
Tourism Council of Zambia (TCZ) chairperson Yousuf Zumla observes this significant growth stating that the sector had seen an increased number of tourist arrivals into the various tourist attraction
sites in the country.
A lot of conferences among other events hosted in the country had helped in the recovery of the sector.
Mr Nsenje says that this was mainly due to the stability and peace being enjoyed in the country thereby positioning itself as a destination of choice to host such international events.
Mr Nseje says with the positive impact the international events had on the businesses in the hospitality industry most members have been able to recover from the losses they had incurred during the pandemic.
He further notes that when international delegates come into the country they bring with them foreign currencies thus enhancing foreign exchange earnings of the country.
He adds that such developments might play a significant role in stabilizing the local currency especially now that it is at a depreciating phase due to the high demand of foreign currencies.
Mr Nsenje says such events gave the players in the hospitality industry huge business opportunities across the entire value chain.
He says hotels and lodges as well as catering services are fully booked for the entire tenure of these events thus giving the hospitality sub-sector the opportunity and chance to effectively contribute to the country’s economic growth.
Indeed, the tourism sector bounced back with tremendous growth last year after having endured slowed growth between 2020 and 2021, with hospitality houses recording an average of about 45 to 50 per cent occupancy in the year from the 30 per cent posted in 2022.