ZAMBIA is endowed with various tourism sites dotted across all the 10 provinces of the country.
Unfortunately, not until recently, only the Victoria Falls in Southern Province has been marketed to the outside world.
However, the Zambia Tourism Agency (ZTA) has of late been promoting tourism sites in the Northern Circuit, which for years have been overshadowed by Livingstone, Siavonga, Mfuwe, South and North Luangwa as tourism and holiday destinations.
The Northern Tourism Circuit has mainly been targeted at Northern, Muchinga, Central and Luapula provinces, which undoubtedly have some of the best tourism attractions to showcase.
But North Western Province, like many other areas in the country, also has abundant tourism and heritage sites which unfortunately have not been well marketed to woo local and foreign tourists.
The same can be said of national heritage sites which fall under the National Heritage and Conservation Commission (NHCC).
The sites have received little publicity in order for them to attract visitors.
Apart from Zambezi Source, which is found in Ikeleng’i district, North Western Province is blessed with tourism sites, such as Kamusongola Hills in Kasempa district, Kalene Hills in Ikeleng’i district and Kifubwa Rock in Solwezi district.
The rest are Mutanda Falls in Kalumbila district, Nyambwezu Rock Shelter in Mwinilunga district, Chavuma rapids in Chavuma district and Kabompo House in Kabompo district where Zambia’s founding President Kenneth Kaunda was detained, among others.
To give flavour to the tourism sites worth sampling in North Western Province, on the foot of the Kalene Hills is the Kalene Mission Hospital which was built in 1905.
The picturesque area is an awesome sight.
Then located about two hours’ drive from Solwezi are the Kamusongola Hills in Kasempa where the Kaondes and Lozis fought their traditional cousin war many years ago.
In Zambezi, there is a suspended bridge across the river in Chinyingi area.
In the 1970s, a Capuchin brother named Crispin Valeri constructed the suspended pedestrian bridge over the Zambezi River.
Valeri was motivated by the deaths of five people who drowned in the river as a tragic result of trying to use a dugout canoe to ferry a sick person to the hospital for care.
He solicited donations of materials and employed local, unskilled labour to construct the bridge, which despite his lack of training or expertise, proved strong and reliable and still spans the river to date.
At the time, the bridge Valeri constructed was one of only five crossings along the 2,574 km length of the Zambezi River.
A pontoon bridge was later installed underneath the bridge to allow vehicles to cross the river.
Chinyingi’s elevation above sea level is 1,100 metres.
The priests of the Chinyingi Mission noted that the redesign and renovation of the hospital was a necessity, as they were unable to find a doctor who wished to practice at the facility.
Instead of closing the doors to the hospital permanently, they initiated renovations in order to keep the facility up to high standards, and to provide medical care for the villagers on the western bank of the Zambezi River as Valeri intended by building the suspension bridge.
Therefore, the ZTA has a mammoth task to market such tourism sites especially those that for many years have not been well marketed.
The purpose behind tourism marketing is to promote the individual sites, make them stand out, attract customers and generate brand awareness.
Many modern tourism marketing strategies make use of the Internet, websites, online adverts, electronic leaflets and brochures and social media platforms often playing a key role.
While the ZTA is at least able to showcase the nations’ tourism sites through a weekly television programme on ZNBC TV1, among other initiatives, more still needs to be done.
With Government support, there is also need to much the promotion and marketing of tourism sites with lodging facilities, good roads and favourable tourism packages in order to attract a lot of visitors to the various tourism sites dotted across the country.
This can be done through Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement.
In this way, the much talked about diversification of the economy from over dependency on copper to other sectors, such as tourism, will have any positive impact.
The country can emulate Kenya which is among few African countries whose economy is supported by a vibrant tourism sector.