THE government of Zambia has approved an almost 25% increase in the budget allocated for tourism in 2024, with a focus on the development of tourism infrastructure, marketing, wildlife management and development of tourism products.
Presenting the 2024 National Budget at the end of September, Minister of Finance and National Planning Situmbeko Musokotwanesaid government had allocated ZMK769.5 million (€34m) to the tourism sector, compared with the ZMK589m (€26m) budget from 2023.Priorities in 2024 will include the utilisation of the US$100 million secured from the World Bank for ‘Green, Resilient and Transformational Tourism Development’, through the development of tourism infrastructure at Kasaba Bay and Liuwa Plain National Park. “Other developments will include the improvement of air and road connectivity to the southwest tourism circuit of Liuwa, Sioma-Ngwezi, Livingstone, Lower Zambezi, and Kafue National Parks,” said Musokotwane.
Additional initiatives include the establishment of a tourism satellite account and the diversification of tourism products. “Government will promote sustainable tourism development to include tourism products such as cultural tourism, avitourism, health tourism and sports tourism, and continue to support the hosting of meetings, conferences, exhibitions and incentive travel,” Musokotwane highlighted.
Reporting economic contributionMeanwhile, in October, Tourism Minister Rodney Shikumbadirected the Tourism Council of Zambia and the Zambia Tourism Agency to report the sector’s contribution in 2024 beyond just traditional international and domestic tourist arrival stats. “We need to report positive contribution to taxes, employment and investment, to motivate government to pump more money into the sector. These said indicators will confirm that the sector is of an economic nature and importance similar to mining, agriculture, energy and manufacturing,” said Shikumba.
