Zambia lacks infrastructure at most tourist sites – Kapata

TOURISM minister Jean Kapata says lack of infrastructure is a big challenge to the development of tourism in the country.
And Kapata says there is need for the country to be on the lookout for investors who will invest in infrastructure development in the country to improve the tourism sector.
In an interview in Livingstone, Kapata said Zambia had many tourist attractions but lacked infrastructure around such sites.
“So what we lack in Zambia, despite ZTB having worked very hard in marketing Zambia, they have worked hard and they have tried to market Zambia but we lack infrastructure. We don’t have infrastructure in most of these tourist sites. We have the White Beaches of Mweru Wantipa but we do not have even a single hotel there. You can imagine if you put up hotels in such areas, it would go a long way,” she said.
“As a country I think we need to really look out for investors who would come and invest in our country so that we can also realise from the potential that we have in this country.”
Kapata said Zambia was rich in natural resources but that they were underutilised.
And Kapata said the government wanted to promote local tourism, hence the launch of domestic tourism to ensure that Zambians went on holidays to enjoy the country’s natural resources.
“We need to come up with schemes where people can be paying slowly towards holidays so that towards the end of the year, they can go on holidays. Through that we can make more money and create more jobs. We are improving every time with the marketing strategies that the Zambia Tourism Board has put in place,” said Kapata.