By MIRIAM ZIMBA –
ZAMBIA is a land blessed with sprawling acres of land, teeming with a variety of wildlife species, abundant water sources, and many other magnificent natural endowments for tourism purposes.
For many years now, one of the most significant tourism attractions the country has extensively marketed has been the Victoria Falls – one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
However, tourism attractions in Zambia are carefully spread out with each of the ten provinces having unique tourism attractions to offer.
Only a few days ago, Zambia joined the rest of the world in commemorating the World Tourism Day themed ‘One billion tourists, one billion opportunities’.
In line with this, the Government has reiterated its commitment to living up to the theme by promoting the numerous natural wonders the country is blessed with, way beyond the Mosi-O-Tunya (Victoria Falls).
Speaking ahead of the commemoration, Tourism Minister Jean Kapata says tourism is an alternative sector poised to drive economic development in the wake of declining copper prices on the global market.
Ms Kapata is hopeful that going by the prevailing statistics, the country has recorded a steady rise in tourist arrivals from 812,000 in 2008 to 920,000 in 2011.
Given this, Ms Kapata is confident that the country will be able to attain the one million mark by next year.
There is so much more unexplored water wonders like unbelievable natural hot springs and the amazing hidden life under many of the water bodies.
Zambia has in excess of 80 hot springs.
Many of the fresh water bodies are not fully explored but underutilised, only seen as a drinking source for the local people and domestic animals near these waters.
Domestic use of these waters could be one of the cardinal uses although there are more benefits from these waters than meets the eye.
Luapula Province is one of the areas endowed with natural tourism attractions, with abundant water bodies which when exploited can help raise the much needed revenue for the country through increased tourism inflow to the area.
This is a province which holds a greater percentage of the country’s water bodies, which accounts for about 65 per cent of the waters in the SADC region.
Ntumbachushi, Lumangwe, Mumbuluma, Musonda and Kundabwika falls as some of the sites with tourism potential in the region.
The province is also home to two great lakes; Mweru (meaning lake in most Bantu languages), which borders the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Bangweulu.
The white sands along Samfya beach in Samfya District is yet another natural attraction to offer tourists a variety beyond just water related tourism.
Chairperson of the Luapula Royal Foundation was quoted as having said besides the water bodies and the white sands along the beaches of the two lakes, fishing is another area tourists can exploit.
Tourism accounts for a minor share of global water use, and in comparison to agriculture, which constitutes an estimated 70 per cent of total water consumption, tourism is far less relevant at one per cent.
Bangweulu area Member of Parliament Anthony Kasandwe explains that one of the priorities of Government is to promote tourism in Luapula Province as a whole and in Samfya District in particular.
To demonstrate Government’s commitment to the promotion of tourism in the country, even during his speech in Parliament, President Edgar Lungu called on Zambians to begin to change some of the negative attitudes in order to attracting investments in all sectors, including tourism.
Mr Kasandwe said despite the low water levels being experienced in some parts of the country because of inadequate rainfall, most of the water bodies in Luapula Province are blessed with abundant waters.
“God has provided this area with the natural aqua streams that feed into the main water bodies of this area,” Mr Kasandwe said.
He explained that in line with tourism promotion in this area, plans are underway to construct an airstrip to enable tourists wishing to travel by air, access the area without any difficulties.
“In fact, Chief Kasoma Bangweulu has just given us land to construct the airstrip, and we are also considering expanding the hotel industry here.
“We are encouraging both local entrepreneurs and those from other parts of the country to explore opportunities of investing in tourism facilities in Samfya,” he said, regretting that there are very few local people who have taken advantage of this potentially lucrative business opportunity,” he said.
The office of the area Member of Parliament has introduced newsletters that document all potential areas of investment in the constituency, with a particular bias towards tourism.
The newsletters are being marketed both locally and internationally, with the help of Zambian missions abroad.
He also pledged to ensure that even water transport facilities will be promoted as a way of offering visiting tourists as many options as possible to sample the local tourism amenities in the area.
His constituency boasts of three islands namely Chilubi, Mbabala and Chishi, and water transport will provide not only adventure for travellers to the area, but also a relatively safer mode of travel to both the mainland and the three islands.
Mr Kasandwe said currently, there is already an investor from Botswana who has expressed willingness to set up a university that will offer training programmes in marine and tourism.
“For us in Government, this is good news because this is very timely, and is in line with our quest to increase levels of investment in the area,” he said.
The coming in of this university will also be a great avenue that will boost the marketing of tourism in the area.
The Parliamentarian explained that the defence forces have also assisted in capturing the tourism potential in the area and have documented it in pictorial form from an aerial point of view which he said will be marketed both locally and internationally as a way of enhancing tourism inflow into the area.
He reiterated the need for mind-set change amongst the inhabitants in the area.
He local communities to embrace environmentally friendly practices to ensure that the natural endowments in the area are well protected and conserved for future generations in order to ensure the thriving of the tourism sector in the area.
Mr Kasandwe also encouraged businesses enterprises who have invested in other businesses such as grocery stores and many others, to consider investing their profits into the tourism sector.
He encouraged them to consider opening up lodging facilities, or indeed, contemplate becoming suppliers to existing tourism facilities in the area.
In adding a voice to the promotion of tourism in Luapula Province, Mwense District Commissioner Geoffrey Mwila appealed to Zambians to take advantage of the tourism attractions in the area by establishing lodging facilities to accommodate local and international tourists.
His appeal to the Government and the private sector is to encourage investment through the construction of more lodging facilities in order to attract more tourists to the area.
According to Ms Kapata, the steady increase of tourist arrivals has seen a proliferation of hotel establishments for the hospitality industry, which increased from 1,000 in 2010 to 1,120 in 2012.
Meanwhile, the tourism sector employed 44, 292 people in 2012 from 20,000 in 2011 and the sector is forecast to create 300,000 more jobs by 2016.
While tourism is a potentially dominant factor in total water consumption in certain holiday destinations, its overall significance for local or regional water resources is dependent on the context.
On the other hand, citizens have called for the need to ensure that the country’s water resources are maximised to promote tourism centred on water activities.
It now remains incumbent upon the Government and other stakeholders to heed calls to ensure that Zambia places itself on the world map as it promotes and showcases its water tourism potential.