•THE city of Ndola has the right combination of products and facilities to make it a viable destination

By GETHSEMANE MWIZABI –

DOMESTIC tourism starts from your back-yard.   Right where you, are not far away.
It may sound like a crazy statement but it is not far from the truth.
Take for example Ndola on the Copperbelt; it is the only city with a river running through it. With its splendor, the Kafubu River cuts across the city but very few people pay attention to what significance the river could bring in terms of tourism.
Sadly, the only activity at Kafubu River is just little boys catching fish, small gardens besides it and middle-aged men with one or two dug-out canoes.
That is all one can see and life goes on.  True, that is the way it is, but is that the way it should be.
Well, there is a whole lot more that could be done, other than playing small with a great and wonderful resource which defines the city.
If it was in other countries, Kafubu River would have tourism products around it.
People would have been going for boat cruises as speed boats would have been dotted over the place for people to fun weekends.
There is no doubt that Ndola has plenty of tourism products, going by it its artifacts and history, there is so much.
Before people can talk of visiting national parks, they have to respond and appreciate the beauty around them.
For example, how many Ndola residents know about the history city?
Ndola, the second oldest colonial-era town of Zambia lies just 10Kilometres from the DR Congo border. It is the head-quarters of the Copperbelt, a town with a rich history in slave trade and Copper mining.
It was the first town to be established as an administrative centre on the Copperbelt on July 18 1904 by John Edward ‘Chirupula’ Stephenson.
The town derives its name from a small insignificant stream tributary of the Kafubu River called Kandola. In 1930, the town was declared a municipality.
In 1932, the colonial administrative offices were moved to the present-day Civic Centre from their original home where they were housed at what is today’s Ndola Golf Club.
Ndola was granted a Coat of Arms from the Royal College of Arms in London in 1952 and city status in 1967.
The boundary of the original council extended to 1124 Square Kilometres. The arrival of the railway line from the South was preceded by the discovery of copper at Bwana Mkubwa in 1910.
The idea of domestic tourism, which in essence involves residents travelling only within that country, is something that needs to be engrained in the Zambian psychic.
For example, how many Zambians visit museums, not just for academic purposes?  Well your guess might be as good as that of the author.
Unless pushed by some external force, very few bother to know, understand and acquaint themselves with the glory of the environment.
This is the idea that Zambia Tourism Board (ZTB) is selling to the Zambian people.
“Zambians should start appreciating tourism products.  These are things that are not necessarily out of reach for Zambians to explore,” said Caristo Chitamfya, ZTB public relations and media manager.
Historically though, tourism in most African countries, including Zambia has tended to rely heavily on foreign tourists as it is believed that  they are the ones who bring the much needed foreign exchange.
However, it must be noted that no country can boast of a successful tourism industry without harnessing the potential that lies in the domestic market.
All vibrant tourism destinations have the right combination of both domestic and international tourists.
In 2012 for example, China received 2,500,000 domestic trips as compared to 57,725 international arrivals, France recorded 202,000,000 domestic arrivals as opposed to 83,013,00 from the international market. The USA recorded 1,000,000 domestic visits, while international arrivals were only 66,969.
South Africa recorded 25,400,000 domestic visits as compared to 9,188,000 international arrivals.
In all these countries mentioned, the domestic tourism market actually generated more earnings than that obtained from foreign receipts.
In Zambia, the statistics are not as accurate but it is fair to say that the number of domestic visits is way below that of international arrivals.
In fact, for a long time a tourist has been perceived as somebody visiting from a foreign country, especially Europe, America and other international markets. As Mr Chitamfya would argue, most Zambians have simply not seen themselves as potential tourists, capable of contributing to the local economy due to historical reasons.
Despite the numerous tourism destinations and resources that the country is endowed with, very few Zambians have taken time to visit them.
According to RETOSA (Regional Tourism organisation of Southern Africa), Zambians have the lowest ‘affinity for travel’ in the region, a situation which worsens the domestic travel outlook even further.
Recently, ZTB launched the Domestic Tourism campaign on the Copperbelt with a call for residents to sample tourism products in their backyards.
The positive side is that with a rapidly growing middle-class emerging in Zambia, many tourism players are increasing their focus on domestic tourists, which is often a quite distinct offer relative to that focused on incoming tourists.
There has been a concerted effort to try and encourage Zambian tourists to stay at home, rather than visit neighboring countries that have traditionally been seen as more desirable tourist destinations.
The advent of shopping malls has a bearing on how people live and there is no excuse for not tapping into the domestic tourism.
As director of tourism in the Ministry of Tourism and Arts Albert Muchanga says a lot of Zambians are currently involved in shopping sprees, religious festivals as well as family visits outside the country, key indicators of the existence of purchasing power for tourism related products.
“The prospects are promising at the income level.  With an economy that is moving from low-income to lower middle-income status, the average income levels in Zambia are at the stage where there is latent effective demand for the product,” he said.
Now, in its effort to promote domestic tourism, towards the end of August, the ZTB would have an in depth roll out of the domestic tourism campaign involving corporate entities Ndola, Kitwe, Chingola and Solwezi.
Under this campaign, domestic tourism would be central to the growth and sustainability of the tourism sector in Zambia.
ZTB director for Domestic Tourism Doris Kofi believes Zambians need to appreciate tourism products right in their backyard for domestic tourism to flourish.
“It is possible to take a bus and visit the Victoria Falls.  It all
starts from there. We should not look at tourism as a lofty thing,”
she said.
Ms Kofi gave an example of South Africa where domestic tourism was bigger than international tourism, saying that could be possible for Zambia, as the country was endowed with tourist attractions like
culture, wildlife and so forth.
There is no doubt that the importance of domestic tourism is best seen in one key ratio.  According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the trend in emerging and developed tourism destinations is that for every one international tourist; there are six domestic tourists. In other words, the base for tourism development is domestic tourism.
Zambia is an emerging domestic tourism destination.  The imperative to grow domestic tourism is obvious. The overall growth of Zambia as a global tourism destination will depend on how successful we are in developing the base; namely, the domestic tourism segment.
Zambia’s tourism product is currently based on nature and culture: the unique waterfalls and cultural ceremonies.
For both domestic and international tourists, there is need to complement this product base with additional products that would encourage tourists to visit longer and more frequently.
As Mr Muchanga would put it, this calls for product refinement and diversification.
ZTB believes domestic tourism cannot flourish without the active participation from local authorities.
It was for this reason that recently, ZTB took a delegation from Zambia’s local authorities to the 2014 tourism Indaba in Durban, South Africa.
Through interactions with various municipalities drawn from South Africa, lessons were learnt and one that stood out was that in South Africa, local municipalities have legislative mandate to oversee and drive domestic tourism programmes.
Arising from this arrangement, local authorities have, within their respective manpower establishments, skilled personnel in tourism related fields to run tourism activities in residential areas.
Ndola Mayor Samuel Munthali was among those who attended the Durban Indaba.
“Following the Durban tour, we have been of the view that Government should come up with a policy that will legally compel all local authorities in Zambia to be active, not passive, players in the tourism industry in order to produce communities that are tourism conscious at the basic level,” he said during the launch of the ZTB Copperbelt Domestic Tourism campaign.
Ultimately, domestic tourism is personal motivation. It starts right where you are. It is not in the future but in a moment.
If it turns out to be a value, then people would save to spend on it.