|
 On
The Road
By Alexis Phiri
Travelling (the art – and sometimes science – of hopping from one
country to another across continents) has been a bit of a drag
lately even by any measured standards of patience. You see, the
“land of the free – and home of the brave” is no place for
spectators. You must get in the mix and taste the action.
I decided to join the Zambia National Tourist Board (ZNTB), Alendo
Travel and Tours and Zambia Safari Company on a USA/Canada Road Show
to showcase Zambia’s tourism potential. In America meanwhile, the
team was joined by Chaminuka and Zambian Airways
For a moment, I laboured under the illusion that the Road Show would
be over-subscribed with participants, tour companies et al.
Was I wrong!
This was the first time the ZNTB was doing a Road Show together with
private sector tourism industry partners and companies in the USA
and Canada. And for an industry dominated by direct foreign
investment, it was refreshing to see this particular road show
dominated by “indigenous Zambian companies”.
I think that is how it must be. Zambians must be at the forefront of
selling Zambian tourism. By Zambians, I make no racial distinction
because I realize Zambians come in all colours. We must begin to see
ourselves as one and make a collective effort in marketing Zambia’s
vast potential in tourism. It will not do for each small or big
company to make solo forays into the market and make feeble attempts
to sell the Zambian prospects. This reminds me of the South African
collective ingenious when they painted the London Taxis with their
colours during the World Travel Market (WTM) in the name of
promoting their country not long ago.
The United States of America is one of the largest generating
markets, coming third to the United Kingdom and South Africa in
terms of arrivals in Zambia. And it has been growing fast. Between
2004 and 2005, American arrivals increased by over 16 percent and
the Zambian government would like it to increase to 30 percent by
2010. That will take a strong government-private sector partnership
to achieve. Lone Ranger-Rambo style efforts will not get us
anywhere.
The interest that the Road Show generated from the North Americans
was immense. The Zambian team had to wade through mud pools of
geographical ignorance about just where Zambia is before they could
get their message across. Americans don’t seem to know that Africa
is NOT one country or that South Africa is NOT the only country on
the continent. Worse still that Zambia is actually the home of the
Victoria Falls. But in spite of all that, they appear to be very
keen on cultural and eco-tourism. That means Kuomboka, N’cwala,
Umutomboko, Kulamba and others have a hungry market to attract in
the USA and Canada.
For those of you who do not know what exactly eco-tourism is, it is
an increasingly popular form of tourism in which tourists seek out
wild and scenic areas such as rainforests or mountains for an active
and educational trip. It has also become popular among people
interested in both environmental conservation and sustainable
development. John Hagee, of TBN fame, calls such people “tree
huggers”. It has been called a way to save the rainforest and a
"win-win development strategy for undeveloped rural areas." Many
global environmental organizations and aid agencies - including the
United Nations - favour ecotourism as a vehicle to sustainable
development.
Ideally, true ecotourism should satisfy several criteria, such as
conservation (and justification for conservation) of biological
diversity and cultural diversity, through ecosystems protection;
promotion of sustainable use of biodiversity, by providing jobs to
local populations ;
sharing of socio-economic benefits with local communities and
indigenous people by having their informed consent and participation
in the management of ecotourism enterprises; increase of
environmental and cultural knowledge; minimisation of tourism's own
environmental impact; affordability and lack of waste in the form of
luxury;
local culture, flora and fauna being the main attractions.
The questions potential clients asked the Zambian team zeroed in on
such aspects, especially how investment in the tourism sector has
benefited local people. The Zambian team pointed out the substantial
investments that have been made in the Northern Province for
instance and other community based projects in the area in which
they operate e.g. the Luangwa Valley and also conservation projects
in the Lower Zambezi. Chief Mukuni and his subjects in Livingstone
and some sectors of Kafue National Park were other examples of
people benefiting from tourism directly and talked about during the
road show. The road show covered San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas,
Washington DC, New Jersey and Toronto.
However, and to a large extent, this road show could not have been a
success if it were not for the personal efforts of Charity Lumpa
heading the team, Ephram Belemu from the marketing department and
Margaret Makungu of the Washington office all of ZNTB who organised
large turn outs of tour operators in both the USA and Canada.
Meanwhile, the support given to the private sector by USAID/MATEP
cannot be over looked.
This was fun to do and I am not sure I will be keen on sitting out
when it comes to promoting the tourism potential of Zambia as the
clock ticks towards the year 2010. |
August
2006