Published on : Wednesday, November 27, 2013
According to World Bank consultant Scott Wayne, Zambia was capable of becoming a regional hub in the tourism and business travel sector. Zambia makes a good case for responsible tourism, as long as the government is the enabler, as opposed to being the disabler. Moreover, the issue of domestic tourism and backpackers’ promotion took centre stage at a Tourism Policy consultative session for Livingstone, moderated by the World Bank.
Moderating the consultative session at Protea Hotel on the development and launch of a new National Tourism Policy for Zambia, Wayne said, “Conditions need to be created to get the community to get involved and I think that, this can happen as long as the government is the enabler, as opposed to being the disabler…,”
“This covers eco and cultural tourism being done in a very responsible manner. However, coping from other countries is not good for you, you would not want to be a victim of your own success,” he added.
Zambia’s tourism development key is the domestic tourism sector. World Bank senior private sector development specialist Brian Mtonya said the World Bank was serious in getting wider consultation on the draft tourism policy.
Backpackers are pioneers of many tourism destinations in the world as they played a big role in opening up places. Backpackers stay longer by going beyond their local itineraries and it helps communities. Sue Hancock who operates Jolly-Boys Backpackers said that the tourism policy should not underestimate the impact of the backpackers market as it had the potential of return visits.
ZTB’s tourism promotions manager Margarate Mataa Makungo said domestic tourism should come out strongly on the new policy as it had the potential of sustaining the tourism sector on an annual basis.
Tags: Tourism News
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