• (FROM left to right) Southern Province Minister Nathaniel Mubukwanu, Zimbabwean music legend Oliver Mtukudzi, and Tourism and Arts Minister Jean Kapata during the third LICAF gala dinner in Livingstone on Friday. Picture by BRIAN HATYOKA

By BRIAN HATYOKA
IT is an undeniable fact that the third edition of the just- ended Livingstone International Arts and Cultural Festival (LICAF) was a great success for the economy of Livingstone and Zambia at large.
The Zambia Tourism Agency (ZTA) has been hosting LICAF since 2013 in partnership with the ministry of Tourism and Arts as well as other stakeholders.
For those who attended the first LICAF three years ago, the event was a small festival which was mainly attended by local artists and other cultural dancers as a curtain raiser to the 20th session of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly in Livingstone.
In 2015, the second LICAF was held in Zambia’s Tourism Capital with the main objective of promoting increased arrivals of both local and international tourists.
The event, which is also aimed at celebrating Zambia and Africa’s cultural identity and diversity and to showcase the best of Africa’s cultural products in dance and song, only attracted the participation of three southern African countries namely Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Seychelles.
Last year’s festival did not attract a lot of local residents as most of them were not aware of the event.
However, this 2016 LICAF was bigger and better in that it had attracted many people from all the ten provinces of Zambia and in addition people from  seven foreign countries namely China, India, Egypt, Rwanda, Seychelles, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Learning from the past experiences, ZTA engaged local residents such as tour operators, taxi drivers, curio traders, police, Government departments, artists and the media through the Livingstone Press Club as among other stakeholders in organising this year’s festival.
It was clear that this year’s festival would be a success because both local and foreign guests were sensitised on the event.
A week before the event, several hotels and lodges in Livingstone were fully booked by both local and foreign guests ahead of the 3rd LICAF which was held during the Easter holidays on March 25th and 26, 2016.
The various hotels and lodges, some of which were booked for the event  as early as January 2016, did not hike  their room rates during this period despite the increasing demand for accommodation.
Another barometer of success was the heavy motor vehicle traffic while scores of local and foreign tourists participated in various festivities.
The festivities included a cultural and food cuisine panorama at Maramba Cultural Village, a Gala Night at Avani Victoria Falls Hotel, a Street Carnival that passed through various townships of Livingstone, and a Pop Festival at the Livingstone Golf Club.
The dinner was spiced up with various music and cultural performances from local and foreign cultural performers led by Zimbabwe’s music legend Oliver Mtukudzi, the Green Labels Band from Zambia National Service (ZNS), Ameyenge Band and other local artists such as Dalisoul, among others.
Senior Chief Mukuni of Kazungula, Livingstone and Zimba districts of Southern Province, the Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Yang Youming  and other  ambassadors and high commissioners accredited to Zambia also attended the 2016 LICAF.
The activities for this year, which included dances with acrobats and traditional sporting activities known as Nsolo, were breath-taking, exciting and well attended as compared to the past two festivals.
Mr Mtukudzi, who performed thrilling music for more than an hour during the gala night, urged African countries to continue promoting unity.
“I am happy that I am back home here in Zambia. Most Europeans are failing to understand how Africans live.” he said.
“When you go to Zimbabwe, you will find a lot of Zambians as well as Malawians and Namibians who are living together peacefully in that country and the same happens here in Zambia. We must continue with this unity,” Mr Mtukudzi said.
And speaking during the official opening at the gala night, Tourism and Arts Minister Jean Kapata said Government wanted LICAF to grow and become one of the top 10 cultural festivals in the world within the next few years.
Ms Kapata said LICAF was an important event and hence her Government would continue to support it so that it grows bigger.
“My Government will continue to provide LICAF with all the necessary support to ensure that this event grows to be one of the top 10 cultural festivals in the world within the next few years.” She said.
“With the collaborative spirit that I have witnessed so far as well as the support of our brothers and sisters in the region and overseas, I am confident that this is not an impossible dream to have,” Ms Kapata said.
She expressed happiness that the festival was a good example of innovativeness in tourism product packaging and development.
“One only has to look at the overbooked hotels and lodges in Livingstone as well as increased traffic on the streets of the tourist capital over the last few days to see the impact that a cultural product can have on the economy of a destination such as Livingstone,” She said.
“As Government, our expectation is that LICAF will continue to promote
our cherished virtues of  unity in diversity and ‘One Zambia One Nation’ motto,” Ms Kapata said.
She also commended the local organizing committee for ensuring that the people of Livingstone, who were the hosts of LICAF, were made aware of the festival.
Ms Kapata also announced that the fourth edition of LICAF would be held in Livingstone on March, 17 and 18, 2017.
ZTA Managing Director Felix Chaila, also said the 2016 LICAF had grown by over 100 per cent compared to the previous events.
Mr Chaila thanked the Livingstone Press Club for partnering with ZTA to create more awareness about LICAF.
He said the event would not have succeeded as much as it did without the involvement of the local media.
“On March 25, 2016, there is an article in Times of Zambia that Livingstone hotels and lodges are fully booked and this is a sign that many people locally and abroad are appreciating the festival,” Mr Chaila said.
And Southern Province Minister, Nathaniel Mubukwanu said the relocation of the provincial capital from Livingstone to Choma had rejuvenated tourism activities in Zambia’s tourist capital.
Meanwhile, Mr Chaila called for speedy construction of a large capacity convention centre in Livingstone to meet the increasing demand for local and international conferences.
He said in an interview that there was urgent need to set up a large capacity convention centre in Livingstone in view of the increasing demand for local and international conferences.
“Most of these big conferences that are taking place in Lusaka could have come in Livingstone if there was a big convention centre,” he said.
“It is easier to market Livingstone to host conferences but unfortunately there is no big conference centre here. The private sector and the Government should quickly set up a convention centre in Livingstone,” Mr Chaila said.
In 2013 during the 20th session of the UNWTO General Assembly, the gathering was held in a marquee due to the absence of large conference facilities.
Mr Chaila, who was impressed that most hotels and lodges were fully booked during the 2016 LICAF festival  over  the Easter period, said there was need for all stakeholders to create more activities in Livingstone to enable guests stay longer.
He said LICAF should be supplemented with a sports stadium and other infrastructures in Livingstone to attract more tourists.
“We must be innovative to keep the lodges and hotels busy throughout the year…there is no reason why Livingstone should not have a motor cross circuit. Livingstone has sufficient land and everyone would like to bring a circuit to a destination that is near Victoria Falls,” Mr Chaila said.
And Livingstone District Commissioner Omar Munsanje, who flagged off the festivities at a colourful ceremony using the branded official taxies for the 2016 LICAF, said there was need for residents to use the event to create jobs.
Mr Munsanje said the event would attract more than 3,000 local and foreign tourists which translated into more than 3,000 business opportunities for the local people in terms of showcasing their culture and offering accommodation, traditional foodstuffs and curios, among other products.
“I would like to call upon all Livingstone residents to showcase their rich culture and market their products to tourists. Government is keen to create jobs for the local people and this event is one of the avenues through which people can make money for themselves,” Mr Munsanje said.
And Abantu Tours and Leisure Services Executive Director Kunda Silwenga, whose firm branded the official taxies, said his firm was delighted to partner with ZTA to promote tourism.
Mr Silwenga urged Livingstone residents to take advantage of the event to be showcasing their rich culture and hospitality.
Also the 2016 LICAF local organizing committee chairperson James Zimba said the tourist capital was happy to host the event.
Mr Zimba, who is Southern Province arts and cultural officer, said the 2016 event was better compared to the one held last year.
AndChinese Ambassador Youming said his Government had demonstrated its support to Zambia by bringing of a Chinese cultural group to be part of 2016 LICAF.
He said his Government would continue to engage Zambia to cooperate on matters of culture.
Clearly, the 2016 LICAF was a big success especially that it was well attended by both local residents and foreign guests.It is only hoped that the momentum will be maintained to make LICAF bigger in future.