By JAMES MUYANWA –
ZAMBIA is one of the three fastest growing tourism destinations in the world, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has said.
This is barely a month after the country was voted second best tourist destination to visit in 2016 following a competition organized by Liligo.com.
According to UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai Namibia and Zambia are among the fastest growing tourism destination globally.
The two African countries share the first three global slots with China from Asia.
Dr Rifai said during the BBC Business Live interview on Monday morning that, Namibia, Zambia and China topped the world in terms of growth as tourism destinations.
This is according to e-TruboNews (eTN), an online global travel news publication.
The UNWTO boss was speaking to BBC as part of the programme for the World Travel Market taking place in London, United Kingdom.
Zambia’s Permanent Representative to the UNWTO, Humphrey Chibanda, who also monitored the interview, was upbeat about Zambia’s tourism.
Mr Chibanda has said since the co-hosting of the UNWTO General Assembly, the tourism industry in Zambia has been growing at a faster rate, and the government continues to implement policies that will sustain that growth.
Zambia co-hosted the 20th UNWTO General Assembly with Zimbabwe in 2013.
Mr Chibanda, who is also Zambia Ambassador to France, said some contributing factors to Zambia’s growing tourism industry are deliberate policies that government has adopted like the Kaza-Univisa which was launched last year.
The Kaza-Univisa allows tourists to obtain one visa and be able to visit Zambia and Zimbabwe without the need for another visa.
In addition, the continued infrastructure development on the country’s roads and the strategic mark
Further, the recently-introduced online visa application introduced by the government for travellers to Zambia is expected to boost tourist inflow to the country.
Mr Chibanda said the government was not taking the revelation by the UNWTO secretary general lightly and would leverage on it to ensure that tourism became one of the pillars of its economy.
