By MAYA NTANDA –
GHANAIAN First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo  is Zambia’s ambassador for Tourism.
Ms Akufo-Addo  is Zambia’s ambassador  for Tourism following an invitation  by the Ministry of Tourism and Arts for her to promote tourism sites.
The Ghanaian First Lady was in the country with President Nana Akufo-Addo who officially opened the Zambia International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Ndola last week.
Ministry of Tourism and Arts stand manager Isaac Kanguya said Ms Akufo-Addo will promote the country’s tourism sites, arts, galleries and the smile that every Zambian offers.

•Ministry of Tourism and Arts stand manager Isaac Kanguya stressing a point to First Lady Esther Lungu and her Ghanaian counterpart Rebecca Akufo-Addo during a tour of the stand at the just ended Zambia International Trade Fair(ZITF) in Ndola. Looking on is Tourism Permanent Secretary Dr Liya Mutale. Picture courtesy of Ministry of Tourism.

Mr Kanguya said Ms Akufo-Addo’s acceptance to be an ambassador  meant a lot to Zambia as the country was dealing with the wife of the Head of State and wherever she goes, she will talk about the tourist attractions  that the country has to offer.
He said the Ministry’s vision was for the country to be among the top five tourist destinations in Africa and was expectant of a serious impact of wooing both local and international investors.
“We invited the First Lady of Ghana to be our ambassador for Tourism and she accepted, she will promote our art, gallery and tourist sites including the smile, a smile is one of the tourist attractions that we offer as Zambians, so we want to see more Africans, more high profiled people visit us,” he said
Mr Kanguya said the Ministry was also up scaling domestic tourism which was permanent and not affected by any global changes.
He said domestic tourism dealt with locals who visit museums, traditional ceremonies and galleries on a daily basis.
Mr Kanguya further encouraged Zambians to take up game ranch as it was a profitable venture.
And Ministry of Tourism and Arts Data manager  Zondi  Chilembo advised the public to pay a Tourism Levy  that was introduced by Government on March 1, this year.
Mr Chilembo explained that a Tourism Levy is a charge collected from persons, both local and international who utilise tourism facilities and will be a percentage rate of 1.5 percent of the persons total bill in respect of accommodation and events.
The purpose of the Tourism Levy is to increase financial support to the tourism sector by contributing to a Tourism Development Fund(TDF).