Government uncovers Visa fees scam

1. All this misinformation can easily be eradicated if there was proper internet usage by our Tourism Division or is it ZNTB and also government Websites..Why not pay for some lnks of some regular visited sites to point out these Visa changes. Zamnet, postnewspaer are some of the highest visited sites locally and Why not put a link on BBC Africa news too..

2. Kaingu is just a clown. Don’t just yap, pls list the names of these unscrupulous tour operators and also state what action has been taken against them. This chap is extemely daft & is just good at lip service. As for the 2010 world cup, cabinet not too long ago, had very grand plans which included building new infrastructure to host some of the teams as well as the spill over tourists. But as always, all talk & no action. 2008 manje, we’re yet to even see any architectural plans and Kaingu & fat Levy will still be aimlessly opening their traps till the actual event! Shut up pls

3. Awe mwandi pa Zed chalishupa. Ba kelenka they are everywhere. No heart for mother Zed.

4. grz website does not work. tour operaters are just cashing in because of grz’s innefience. Some other grz misions sites do not have updated information. Grz likes to talk with no action

5. HK #1, mwana, these chaps are too backward to comprehend the wonders of ecommerce. Places like Dubai generate 30% of their GDP from tourism, and that’s just a desert bwana with man-made attractions. Ise with all our natural wonders, we’ve failed to harness all this potential. Instead, sharp bazungus are making a killing while Kaingu and his obese boss are sitting clueless

6. Talk about misinformation its absolutely ridiculus. Tarantino is right. Which operators are these anyway?

7. He calls a 100% increase from $40 to 80 “slightly”. Scrap these fees altogether. #1 is right these guys need to get their infomration accessible on the web. no one is listening to their press conferences

8. #7, thats exactly the point. I was personally providing information to a group of tourists from Scotland and the 100% increase (which our Hon. Minister calls “slight”) has put them off completely. You increase these things incrementally over time so that people dont really notice. Who advises these people. This type of mis-calculations work against the very reason they have increased them-additional revenue! The same crap will happen to the mines taxation, which whilst being well-intended, the execution is not done properly, like someone just waking up from a long slumber and making a decision without analysing the potential adverse reactions.

9. How have tourists been misinformed about the increase in visa fees when he agrees by saying, ‘he clarified that government has only increased tourism visa fees from US$ 25 per single entry to US$ 50 adding that for multiple entry the tourism visa fees has been slightly increased from US$ 40 to US$ 80’

   Who is misinforming who here? The minister is a liar. this is why we can’t develop.

10. #8, No good Scottish would put up with such a crap system. No one is serious in zambia. I went to Blantrye last month to visit David Livingstone Museum, there is absolutely no information of how to get to the Vic Falls. I found the tour leader advising them to make a trip to Malawi and charter to a flight to see the falls. Who benefits out of this? Malawi and Zimbabwe of course but where are our promoters.

11. More bs. That increase is for all the ‘other nationals’. The USA and UK passport holders have really been socked. And the visa waiver abolished. They should have increased it, but getting rid of it is a mistake. Zambia will suffer from a loss in tourism. Its an expensive country to visit and this is just one reason to not come to Zambia.

    These new visa fees have been on the web about 2 days- zambiaimmigration.gov.zm/zims/VISA_FEES

    And what of the 14 day maximum duration of tourist visas?? zambiaimmigration.gov.zm/zims/visa_guidelines

    Who is scamming who?

12. How are tour operators misinforming tourists when the increased fees are on the Zambia immigration website for all to see.

13. Hang on. With a visa waiver we could get into Zambia for free until last week. After the Minister announced the budget, we now have to pay a minimum of $50, sometimes $130 or apparently over $400 for a multiple entry visa if you have the misfortune of being British. A level playing field? Where is this field? In the foothills of the Himalayas perhaps?

14. Imagine two shops side by side. They both sell the same items. The one shop charges you $30 to get in. The other shop lets you in for free. So which shop would you go into? Then, all of a sudden the shop that used to let you get in for free charges you $50. And amazingly enough, the shopkeeper still expects you to shop in his shop… Still Confused.

15. imwe, why argue on simple matters like these? just try the suspects and if found guilty, lock them up to save as an example for the future generations, bushe niku pwalala kwa bwanji uku?

16. I have booked a holiday to Zambia next summer for my family of two adults and three children.

    We are British
    We were expecting the visa waiver and now face a visa bill of
    £75 x 5 = £375. We are reconsidering our holiday – Zambia will be theloser from this greedy increase.

17. well guys – I’m British Citizen who’s booked a three day trip to vic falls from Johannesburg. So I’m going to have to hand over 75 quid to enable me to spend my hard earned cash in Zambia and help bolster the economy? I have to ask, why are the British stung so heavily ie. three times than that of EU countries(err…sorry…aren’t we members of the EU?) Needless to say, I’m getting on the blower tomorrow to cancel the trip, along with many other fellow british travellers on a budget. I really, really don’t enjoy being mugged in broad daylight. Thanks Zambia…

18. It seems as though the minister was a bit out of touch. The visa fees are now 75 pounds multi entry 240 pounds (the highest I can find anywhere on earth)for the British. US$135 for a multi entry for the Americans and most other nationalities its US$50 single, US$80 double and US$160 multi. There is no day visa any more. I have spent some 10 years in Livinsgtone building a tour business and can safley say that we are in for a very bad year. 20% of our business came accross from vic Falls and this disapeared overnight aong with 7 jobs that were supported by these tourists. People will simply not pay large visa fees if they can avoid doing so and people will avoid doing so. More job losses soon

19. We are told that the visa fees are recipricol. Then why do South Africa, Namibia and Botswana not charge the British, Americans or Europeans to come to their countries since they are all charged a visa to get into the UK, Europe and teh States.The reason is simple. They realise it will cost their economies millions in lost revenue from tourists who wont come. Britian is charging since it is flooded by mllions of migrant workers and they are all entitled to housing, free health care and schooling once there. None of these facilities is free in Zambia and Zambia is not experiancing a mass migration of people.

20. The fact is that tourism could provide a million jobs in Zambia. Tourism is the worlds largest industry and largest employer. Throw open the doors to Zambia and say welcome all please come and visit. We have no visa fees and you are welcome with no strings for up to 3 months. This is exactly what South Africa has done and despite their crime rate the tourism figures are fantastic there with massive growth. This tourism provides Billions of Rand in revenue for the government.
    In 2005 ZAWA reported that 94,000 people paid to entre the falls park yet we are told that tourism is booming. Thats a joke. Last year only 220,000 international tourist arrivals (those from oyside of Africa).

21. zambia could be a tourism Gold mine but we keep telling tourists we do not want them here. Here are some arrival figures: South Africa 4.5 million, Las vegas 35 million, Nyagra falls 14 million, Canari Islands 57 million. Zambia 220,000. ha. The fact is that running a tourism business here is a nightmare. There are dozens of regulations and licences. New rules pop up almost monthly. Like the visa fees. yet government says they are making it easier to come here. This is simply not true. 10 Years ago there were no visa fees and a tourist could go to Zimbabwe or Botswana for the day with no hassel. Today its a beauracratic nightmare and the boarder is almost deserted. Why has it become harder?

22. The government see tourism as a gold mine and this is partly due to the fact that many tourism business are run by Europeans (and why would they be involved if they dont make a packet). I can clarely say that most tour operators are here for the life style. that is friendlky people, sun shine, not to much traffic and wide open spaces and good game parks. I know of very few that are making huge sums and certainly wont be once tourism numbers drop as we expect. So my call is to make tourism a ‘real’priority not jsut by lip service. To throw open the boards and cut teh cost of comeing here and running a tourism business here. Tourism can help build Zambia. lets help it do that.

23. U need antivirus?

24. Surely it is time for the government to be sensible and to support Zambian tourist industry and therefore all Zambian people by having reasonable visa fees in line with other countries. £240 is a joke so we have cancelled our visit and will go elsewhere thank you.

25. I not understend what U want

26. ??????? ???????? ????!

27. my girl crazy, man!

28. Hi
    I think GRZ should set probably a standard fee maybe Usd 20. for Visa for ALL tourists coming.We are losing out, we need them so much.Soon we see people losing employment, they wont be tourist coming it is too expensive just for a visit?

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