with Zambia National Dance troupe Livingstone based artists during a
cocktail hosted for RETOSA delegates in Livingstone at Chrismar Hotel
on Wednesday night.
The total number of international tourist arrivals in Zambia increased to 946,969 in 2014 as compared to 914, 576 in 2013, representing an increase of 3.4 percent.
Ministry of Tourism and Arts Permanent Secretary Stephen Mwansa said in a statement that from the total number of visitors in the year under review, 23 percent came from Europe, America and Asia while 77 percent were from the African region.
Mr. Mwansa further said the total number of visitors to national parks increased by 6 percent from 77,282 visitors in 2013 to 81, 962 in 2014.
He adds that out of the total of 81,962 visitors to the national parks, 57,059 were international visitors while 24,903 were domestic.
And Mr. Mwansa said the Ministry is optimistic that the 1,000,000 international tourist arrivals target will be reached this year especially after the lifting of the Yellow Fever requirement and expansion of the budget airline domestic routes in the country that will improve connectivity.
‘The UNIVISA eliminates the need for tourists visiting the two countries to have multiple visas thus making cross border travel easier and less costly, while the declaration of Zambia as a Yellow Fever free zone by World Health Organisation is momentous for travelers to and from Zambia,’ Mr Mwansa said.
LT edit your headline from “foreigners” to “tourists”. The former sounds more like unwanted people visiting Zambia.
These figures may be meaningless unless they are supported by revenue realised as a result of the visits by tourists.
I think this number is actually very small and disappointing. A 3% increase from the previous year is negligible. What would be interesting to know is how we have done in the last five years or ten years? Are people coming to Zambia more now than say 2000? How are we comparing to our neighbors like Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia? Did they increase their numbers or reduce? For the tourists that come to Zambia, how much revenue is generated annually? I remember writing an in-depth proposal to the govt long before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. We missed an opportunity where we could have attracted lots and lots of people to come to Zambia. Remember it’s the same people, their friends and relatives who are going to visit us again 4 or 5 years later. Zambian Tourism Board are a bunch of
@choma
Thats why there’s internet for such details. Why do you always want to sound like you smart than all of us. Your failure to research should not be our problem.