Proposals Developed To Revamp Tourism In Livingstone

Destination Livingstone was developed to help make Livingstone a more attractive tourist attraction, helping to make it more competitive within the tourism market. It involves both public and private sector players. 

The hope of the initiative is to increase the long-term social and economic benefits that tourism can bring to the population and businesses of the area in a hope that this will make the area both better for the people who live in it as well as the people who visit it. 

The chairperson for the initiative, Peter Jones, had observed that most tourism-dependent businesses had shut down or, if open, are operating at a loss due to the impact which COVID-19 has had on the number of tourists that are allowed to visit the country. 

This initiative follows a number of investments into the area over previous years, which have included the construction hotels as well as the upgrading of Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport which was carried out by the government. 

Mr Jones was present at a meeting held at the River Club which looked at ‘The Re-emergence of Zambia’s tourism capital; A Cooperation between private sector, Livingstone City Council and Local Government Departments’. Within the meeting he stressed the need for tourism stakeholders to adapt to new trends in the sector to attract increased numbers of domestic tourists. This is especially important, giving the inability of international tourists to visit the area under COVID-19 restrictions. 

Jones noted “We need to adapt to new trends; tourists do not just want to see things, they want to engage with local people”. 

The country has seen a period of healthy growth of the tourism sector in recent years, accounting for 7% of the country’s GDP and 7.2% of its employment in 2019. However, in recent months, hotel occupancy has been as low as 30% within Livingstone. The United Nations also predicted that, without government intervention, the tourism sector would be the hardest hit within the country, potentially losing more than 60% of pre-COVID jobs.