IN March this year, a report by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) indicated that Mauritius, Rwanda and the Seychelles had scrapped visas on countries whose nationals belong to the regional body.
The report further disclosed that the decision was part of efforts to implement the regional body’s Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Services, Labour and Rights of establishment and residence in the region.
According to the report, Zambia has only issued a circular waiving visas for the region’s citizens who travel for official business only.
The report further observed that the red tape involved in the application and payment for visas had been cited as being among the causes for delays in intra-COMESA trade and movement of people.
In December last year, Zambia Tourism Board (ZTB) managing director Felix Chaila disclosed that some neighbouring countries had already scrapped-off visas or reduced the visa fees for tourists coming from key source markets globally.
Mr Chaila said studies conducted in the tourism sector indicated that more tourists were likely to visit countries which had simplified visa regimes.
ZTB made a request to the Ministry of Home Affairs through its parent Ministry of Tourism and Arts to make certain visa adjustments to key source tourism markets such as United States of America (USA), United Kingdom (UK), France and Germany among others.
Whn it studied the visas regimes, it discovered that Zambia’s neighbouring countries have completely scrapped off or reduced visa fees, while the Zambian fees are too high.
ZTB is again calling on the Government to review the country’s visa system so that it becomes user friendly.
The ZTB is calling for the review of visa charges for selected source markets and the introduction of an online application system in order for Zambia to become more competitive in the source markets.
The issues raised by the ZTB are valid and thus we call upon the Government to put in place measures to address them.
The introduction of the online visa application system for instance, will definitely encourage more people especially tourists to visit the country.
The advantage of this system is that it allows an individual to apply for a visa before they even start off from their country of origin. This also saves the tired traveler, after a long flight the agony of having to stand in the queue for a long time just to apply for a visa at the point of entry.
With the investment that the country has embarked on in the the tourism sector, we hope that this year, the Government will implement some of the proposals by the ZTB so that the sector can continue to record growth. OPINION