ZAMBIA has won the Golden Award in the Southern African Destination Community category at the just ended 2016 Tourism Indaba in Durban South Africa.
This is according to a statement released to the media by Press Secretary at the Zambian Embassy in South Africa, Nicky Shabolyo
The award was presented to the Zambia Tourism Agency (ZTA) by South African Tourism (SAT) on Tuesday.
The 2016 Tourism Indaba took place from 7 – 9th May, with 18 countries from Africa taking part. The ZTA took along with it, 21 companies from the private sector consisting of hotels, lodges, airlines, travel & tour operators, safari camps and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife.
The ZTA also invited three permanent secretaries namely Mr. Sturdy Mwale for Lusaka, Dr. Chanda Kasolo for Eastern province and Mr. Boniface Chimbwali for Luapula. Lusaka Town Clerk Mr. Alex Mwansa, city planners, an Economist from the Ministry of Finance and staff from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife were also part of the delegation.
The team was taken for a bench marketing visit and meetings with KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) civic authorities. They also visited heritage sites in KZN, met with several tourism authorities and visited the International Convention Centre.
The Tourism Indaba is one of the largest tourism marketing events on the African calendar and one of the top three ‘must visit’ events of its kind on the global calendar.
It showcases the widest variety of Southern Africa’s best tourism products.
Held annually in Durban South Africa, the show brings together typically between 8,000 and 11,000 of Africa’s tourism leaders, policy makers, global buyers and travel media from across the world under one roof with the aim of promoting tourism as a means of economic growth and transformation on the African continent. INDABA is owned by South African Tourism.
Congratulations. Keep the flag flying high for mother Zambia
GREAT !! LET’S HOPE THIS RESULTS IN LOTS OF TOURISTS COMING TO VISIT OUR BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY ( AND SPENDING THEIR MONEY HERE!)
badly dressed women, yaba
Comment:Congratulation mother Zambia, u make us proud….
@2 I CONQUER WITH YOUR SENTIMENTS, BUT THAT CAN BE SO BY IMPLEMENTING CERTAIN THINGS IN FIRST OUR HIGHLY POTENTIAL TOURIST DESTINATIONS. AND EVEN BEFORE ZAMBIA DOES THAT, THE GRZ SHOULD IDENTIFY WHICH ARE THESE AREAS WITH HIGH POTENTIAL. ACCORDING TO ME, APART FROM THE TRADITIONAL SPOTS SUCH AS LIVINGSTONE, MFUWE, KARIBA, ETC, THE NEGLECTED AREAS WHICH WILL SURPASS EVEN LIVINGSTONE IN THE NEAREST FUTURE ARE SAMFYA WITH IT’S BANGWEULU BEACHES AND WETLANDS, MPULUNGU AND RELATED AREAS, NCHELENGE ON LAKE MWERU, NEW CHEMBE TOWN ON LUAPULA RIVER (mind you, I am not from Luapula Province) AND SURROUNDING AREAS. CHIAWA, ETC.
LET’S TAKE SAMFYA AND THE BANGWEULU WETLANDS AS AN EXAMPLE. SAMFYA IS POTENTIALLY A WORLD CLASS DESTINATION. IN FACT THE NEXT BIG THING IN THE WORLD IN TERMS OF TOURISM. BUT, BEFORE THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS TO TAKE CERTAIN PURPOSE STEPS SUCH AS GIVING SAMFYA A MODERN FACE BY DELIBERATELY CONTRACTING A COMPANY TO RE-BUILD THE TOWN BY STARTING WITH THE CONSTRUCTION OF A STATE-OF-THE-ART SHOPPING MALL WHICH WILL INSTANTLY FACE UP (MODERNIZE) SAMFYA NOT NEAR THE SAND BEACHES BUT AWAY FROM THE SAND BEACHES IN ORDER NOT TO SPOIL THE NATURAL BEAUTY OF THE SAMFYA AND THE LAKE. THIS IS WHERE ALL MARKETEERS IN THE TOWN CENTRE OF SAMFYA SHOULD BE ACCOMMODATED LEAVING THE BEACH AREA CLEAN, MANAGEABLE AND FOR THINGS TO DO WITH TOURISM ONLY WHILE IN THE PROCESS EXPANDING THE PERIMETERS OF THE TOWN.
A FEW YEARS AGO, I DID SPEAK TO THE OVERALL BOSS OF SAMFYA ABOUT AVOIDING GIVING BUILDING PLOTS ON BEACHES (PURE WHITE SANDS OF BANGWEULU), OF LAKE BANGWEULU AS SAND, SUN AND WATER ARE THE 3 ITEMS TOURISTS WILL BE FLOCKING TO THAT AREA FOR. BUT, AS USUAL WHEN ANYONE IS COMING FROM OVERSEAS AND GIVING ADVICE ON CERTAIN THINGS, THEY ALWAYS THINK OR SAY, “ABA NABO PANTU BEKALA FYE KU AMERICA/BULAYA HE/SHE/THEY THINK THEY CAN GIVE US ADVICE”. WHAT I HAVE SEEN IS THEY CONTINUE GIVING PLOTS ON SAND. BY THE TIME INVESTORS CONSTRUCT THEIR LODGES, THE VALUE OF THE TOWN WOULD HAVE FINISHED. JUST SEE WHERE DAN PULE CONSTRUCTED HIS LODGE (on pure white sand) AND YOU WILL KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT.
IT IS BECAUSE OF THE HIGH POTENTIAL OF TOURISM (farming, food processing and manufacturing industries) IN ZAMBIA THAT I DECIDED TO TRAIN AND OBTAIN 3 CERTIFICATES IN EFFECTIVE TOURISM CUSTOMER SERVICE, EFFECTIVE RETAIL CUSTOMER SERVICE, ECT EVEN THOUGH I AM QUALIFIED IN BEng H Software Engineering ON TOP OF VISITING HIGHLY QUALIFIED TOURIST DESTINATIONS SUCH AS SPAIN, ITALY, ETC IN ORDER TO EXPERIENCE AND SEE FOR MYSELF WHAT MAKES THIS COUNTRIES GREAT TOURIST DESTINATIONS. TAKE FOR INSTANCE BARCELONA- SPAIN. THE TOWN IS REALLY FOR TOURISM. 1. SAMFYA MUST HAVE GOOD SEWERAGE, SANITATION AND PIPED WATER, 2 LAKE BANGWEULU MUST HAVE AN EFFICIENT TRANSPORT FROM SERENJE, MOKAMBO, AND MANSA BY WAY OF DUAL CARRIAGE WAYS, AIR, AND RAILINE.
3. SAMFYA MUST HAVE AN INTERNAL STATE-OF-THE-ART ROAD NETWORK THAT INCORPORATES VEHICLES, CYCLISTS AND PEDESTRIANS. ON TOP OF THESE SAMFYA MUST HAVE PLANNED TOWN (OPEN SPACES) PARKS. 4. SAMFYA MUST HAVE A MODERN SHOPPING (MALL) COMPLEX TO MAKE IT MODERN AND STOP REFLECTING POVERTY IN THE TOWN AND MUCH MORE THIS WILL SET FUTURE TOURISM TOWN STANDARDS, 5. SAMFYA NEEDS ONE STATE-OF-THE-ART HARBOUR AND SMALLER ONES ROUND THE LAKE AND ISLANDS, 6. OUR GRZ MUST DELIBERATELY CONSTRUCT A STATE-OF-THE-ART ROAD NETWORK THAT INCORPORATES VEHICLES, CYCLISTS AND PEDESTRIANS ROUND THE LAKE. SPAINISH TOURISM INCORPORATES SPORTS AND THIS CAN BE SEEN PHYSICALLY IN THE WAY THE DESIGN THEIR TOWNS, 7. OUR GRZ MUST CREATE A FARMING BLOCK IN SAMFYA TO INVITE FARMERS WHILE AT THE SAME TIME DISCOURAGE…
7. OUR GRZ MUST CREATE A FARMING BLOCK IN SAMFYA TO INVITE FARMERS WHILE AT THE SAME TIME DISCOURAGE OVER-FISHING IN RIVERS AND LAKES THERE. FISHING MUST BE PREDOMINANTLY, FOR SPORT WHILE SEASONAL FISHING MUST BE INTRODUCED FOR COMMERCIAL. SINCE, ZAMBIA NOW HAS THE MARINE, THE MARINE SQUAD CAN ENFORCE THE FISHING REGULATIONS. FISHING IS AN INTERNATIONAL SPORT. i REMEMBER A FEW YEARS AGO BEFORE THE DEMISE OF MR SATA, WE HAD A MEETING WITH THE MINISTER OF WORKS, SUPPLY AND WHATEVER… IN ONE OF THE CITY LONDON HOTELS AND I SUGGESTED THE FORMATION OF A MARINE IN ZAMBIA AS IT WAS NECESSARY. THE MEETING JUST BOOED AT ME TO SAY, “AAH!, X, THAT CAN’T HAPPEN IN ZAMBIA BECAUSE WE ARE LANDLOCKED”. I TRIED TO EXPLAIN TO THE MEETING THAT WE HAVE ROGUE NEIGHBOURS AND OUR LAKES ARE SIMPLY MINI SEAS,…
HOWEVER, I CONCLUDED THAT ZAMBIANS LACK DEEP THINKING OF OF ISSUES- WE JUST TALK A LOT. MEANWHILE, ZAMBIA THROUGH THE ZAMBIAN AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY IS RIGHTLY, COMPARING SAMFYA (with water, sand and sun) AND TURKEY (with water, sand and sun) IN THE CONTEXT OF TOURISM. BUT, FOR ME SAMFYA HAS MORE THAN TURKEY. TURKEY HASN’T GOT WILD LIKE AND THE WETLANDS. SO, IF SAMFYA CAN BE COMPARED TO TURKEY WITH THE CORRECT INFRASTRUCTURE IMPLEMEMTATION AS MENTIONED ABOVE, SAMFYA IS IN A POSITION TO PUT ZAMBIA IN A POSITION AS A WILD’S NUMBER ONE TOURIST DESTINATION- MEANING THROUGH SAMFYA, ZAMBIA IS THE NEXT BIG THING IN TOURISM. THE ABOVE TOURISM IDEAS (EVEN IMPROVED) CAN BE EXTRAPOLATED TO OTHER ZAMBIA’S TOURIST SPORTS.
LT, I am sure you meant Bench Marking and not Bench Marketing. As for @Peter, why Samfya alone, are you a true blue?
Lake banger is infested with crocodiles. Unless you want crocodiles to start feasting on white meat.
@Peter, I like people with good ideas. Zambia can be a paradise if we had a leadership with good brains. we could also have turned Misisi compound dam from filthy into a marvel recreational dam with nice facilities around. Ndola Kafubu river & the boating club area and of the Itawa side would have been a place where tourists could go for a swim. Mindolo dam could a real beauty. And not forgetting Zambezi in Zambezi & Barotseland etc.
Peter, you are right! There are many places in Zambia if they were traded with the West, they would be Paradise! All over Zambia!!! Samfya is one of those many places!
But next time Sir, write in lower case! You were shouting!
Why is that in Zambia the government contracts outside companies to build houses, schools and houses when our own grown achitects can do a good job. Also, if they government can allow UNZA students to uses some of these facilities as student projects – surveying, planning and all, let our students learn from rural places like Samfya, Mpika, Mbala, etc…! Kasaba Bay and Ndole Bay are