THE production of a documentary by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to highlight Zambia’s wildlife in the Liuwa National Park of Western Province, is a positive move and beneficial to the country’s economy.
The documentary, which would be televised on Digital Satellite Television (DSTV) geographical channel, would no doubt help to market Zambia to the outside World.
Liuwa National Park situated in the Barotse flood plains on the banks of the Zambezi River in Kalabo area was given the National Park status in 1972.
Apart from the flat, grassy plain, the national park is endowed with wildlife which is a marvel to watch hence the need to market the area.
The Liuwa National Park is one of the important sites that has the potential to help boost tourism in our country and the BBC has been engaged to film the wildlife and make a documentary to be televised worldwide.
Zambia is endowed with so many natural wonders, apart from the famous Victoria Falls, which require marketing and we therefore hail the strategy by the Zambia Tourism Board (ZTB) to use the BBC as one of its marketing tools.
There is need to vigorously highlight the tourist sites in view of tourism being one of the key sectors that can be used to generate revenue for the country and in turn boost the country’s economy.
In todays publication, we carry a story in which Minister of Tourism and Arts Jean Kapata announced in Parliament on Tuesday that the documentary would significantly help to market Zambia’s tourism sector on the World map.
We would like to echo Ms Kapata’s remarks that the ZTB was also making concerted efforts to market the country’s tourism including wildlife found in Liuwa National Park.
These are some of the efforts Government, through the ZTB is making to ensure they placed Zambia on the World map and encourage tourism investment in the country.
Tourism is an important economic sector that has the potential to create employment opportunities and revenue base for Government.
With the increasing revenue base realised from the tourism sector, the country would no doubt see more increase in other sectors such as the construction of good road networks and other infrastracture development like more hotels, lodges and recreation facilities which would create job opportuinities and wealth creation for Zambians.
We would therefore like to encourage the ZTB to market more tourism sites that the country has and to venture into more agreements with many other stakeholders in order to vigorously market our country and emulate countries like Kenya and South Africa which have done so well in that area.
We are further delighted that plans have reached an advanced stage by Zambia and Angola to
jointly establish a Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) in the national park with support from African Parks Network.