Minister of Tourism, Rodney Sikumba expects the number of tourists and investors to increase in 2023 following the visa waiver in some countries.
Mr Sikumba said government is creating an environment that allows visitors to come to Zambia to sample many attraction and unique cultural heritage sites.
He said the waiver, is also a step government has taken to strengthen relationships.
In a press statement issued to the media in Lusaka yesterday by the ministry’s public relations unit, Mr Sikumba said this when he gave his toast statement as the Guest of Honour, at a Reception for Commemorating the German Unity in Lusaka last night.
Mr Sikumba noted that Germany, is one of the countries that has benefited from the Visa waiver and hopes more Germans use the opportunity to visit Zambia.
“Current statistics reveal that there were 1,241 tourist arrivals from Germany in 2021 compared to 2,261 in arrivals in 2019. Our ministry wants to see these numbers growing again,” he said.
Meanwhile, Germany Ambassador to Zambia, Anne Wagner-Mitchell said Germany remains committed to assisting Zambia on its path to further democratic, economic and social development.
Dr Wagner-Mitchell disclosed that a total value of the German-funded programmes and projects being implemented in Zambia amounts to nearly half a billion Euros.
She added that her embassy, together with the Southern African-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry are stepping up their economic diplomacy, with the goal of supporting the Zambian Government’s agenda on private sector development, growth and job creation.
At a time when the country’s security is compromised, these upnd clowns are thinking about opening our country to foreign elements. The upnd must know who is behind abductions
Great job Zambia!
Compromised where and from what?
Having Germans/Japans/British is a compromise on the national security? Which country you yourself are from – Congo? Then you settled in the Copperbelts in the ADs.hahahahahahahah. Those people throwing stones at police officers one of them could be your distant cousin there. So you are not the one to complain on this one, us Zambians are still quiet.
The problem is that these chaps like making hollow statements. How did Sikumba arrive at that decision? Which data did he use? The most preferred destination for most mzungu to Southern Africa is South Africa followed by Zimbabwe. South Africa attracts more visitors to the Victoria Falls than Zambia and Zimbabwe because it’s offered as a package. So SA will be benefit from this more than Zambia, except for Southern Sun Hotel and Big 5 that benefit for the SA package. Who owns Southern Sun & Big 5? This is a partisan decision
US, Canada, Australia and most EU countries were visa free back in 2005 then the govt got greedy and charged for visas Botswana never had a visa and it has heaps of visitors and Zim visa was half the price. the reason the tourist come via SA is because there is direct flights to SA nd cheaper. Zambia has dropped the ball on getting airlines to fly to Zambia.. also most tourists prepay their holiday so don.t buy their tour package in SA. also Sun hotels was sold 7 yrs ago to a Malaysian hotel chain called Edeni .
4.1, who are the big players in Zambian tourism? Lower Zambezi packages are sold in ZAR and Dollar in South Africa. It’s difficult for you to get anything if you’re in Zambia. Big 5 has even betrayed local car hires since he went into partnership with Southern Sun as they’re no longer allowed into the premises. It’s now clear that even the canceled safari hunting concessions will go to mainly South African companies or those allied to Big 5 and Southern Sun. Go to Livingstone and check how many local car hires have closed. Big 5 please reconsider your position, you’re a good man. Money isn’t everything, your people are suffering. I’ll call on you when I visit Livingstone
Ayatollah
well put
 At 11:10 am
Ayatollah wrote “The problem is that these chaps like making hollow statements. How did Sikumba arrive at that decision? Which data did he use? The most preferred destination for most mzungu to Southern Africa is South Africa followed by Zimbabwe. South Africa attracts more visitors to the Victoria Falls than Zambia and Zimbabwe because it’s offered as a package. So SA will be benefit from this more than Zambia, except for Southern Sun Hotel and Big 5 that benefit for the SA package. Who owns Southern Sun & Big 5? This is a partisan decision” Your reasoning doesn’t make sense. You are contradicting yourself. How is South Africa and Zimbabwe going to benefit from a visa waiver by the Zambian government? In case you didn’t understand what the reasoning behind this…
Correct why would they go to Zim when Zed is visa free.
if Zambian Tourism is on the ball they can do packages with Bots as the Kuz bridge is open and now plans for it to be open 24hrs. we have the airport and day trips to Chobe, leaving Zimbabwe in the dust.
The Warthog #6
There is no contractions. South Africa always benefits from Zambia It sells Southern African Tourist Packages because it has more direct flights & better logistics. European tourists tend to travel to South Africa because of that., They book a 10 to 14 days stay in South Africa. Then fly to Zimbabwe and Zambia to see Victoria Falls for 24hrs to 48hrs stay. Anyone who has flown to SA frequently would notice the type of tourist if you chat with them at the airport or onboard.
Eh? Is the visa waiver only for German tourists? Terrible reporting.
Its for 40 Countries that were visa free 18 yrs ago
This is an ill thought move a tourists who come to Africa have more money to worry about visas issued on entry these are people who take a concoction of vaccines…you want to increase traffic make Zambian A1 Jet fuel the lowest in Africa.
Visas among tourists do make a big difference first the hassle of filling out forms and the cost of visas for families adds up . both Bots and SA have no visas and that’s why they have the tourist numbers. Tourist are on holiday and not interested in standing in Q.s and fill in forms.
What you may not realize is foreign International airlines get their Jet A1 fuel Zambian duty free of Vat and Excise already so its already about the same price as SA. Only domestic flights have expensive fuel.
Am I wrong to think that some people have taken this wrongly? You still will need a visa to enter Zambia but you are not going to pay the £36 you had to pay from the UK, our fees were much higher compared to other countries that have a high tourist inflow
All you need is a passport no visa now for 40 countries
We need to make data based decisions. Does the data show that visa fees were reducing the number of tourist?
Hon. this is absolutely not true. There exist no tangible facts to support your day dreaming.Please next time tell who ever is cheating you to do a comprehensive survey and come up with sensible decisions. You are denying yourselves of the much needed revenue. The majority of the tourists who visit the expensive lodges pay into foreign company accounts in their countries and come to Zambia with only pocket money. Surely „even the little you have will be taken away „ Cry my beloved country
@ Cosmos: It’s the number of tourists attractions that make a difference and Muzungus like spending time on the beach which you don’t have. Look at Kenya or Tanzania, planes are full of tourists and they still charge Visa Fees. The monies assist in the running of the missions issuing Visas.
Very lame excuse for example Australians don’t need visas to SA, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania or Kenya and are in the 10 largeset tourism countries visiting SADC countries, and guess what they don’t come for the beaches , Australia has beaches 10x better, they come for the wildlife and culture.
Lusaka Times, why have you removed my constructive comments. There no insults in it but the truth of the matter. Shame on you. Stop promoting nonsense.
You should have made visa free for tourists only but others should be made to pay like businessmen, artists coming to perform here etc etc. After all these countries are not going to reciprocate and it’s the same visa fees that run some of these embassies abroad ad government funding is erratic.
How many Zambians visit these countries compared the number of foreign tourists visit Zed, Also in the past they got the visit on arrival not in the embassies overseas, so no income for those Embassies and if you check the Zed immigration website you can’t use a tourist visa for business, artists ect and they have a different cost, also Australian and Canada are talking of dropping visa’s for Zambians