THE TOURISM INDUSTRY AND PERFORMING ARTS

Zambia is a wonderful tourist destination but unfortunately, in my view, we have over the years not done enough in this area. I have heard several government leaders talk about boosting tourism but I believe that we could have been more innovative. To boost tourism, we have to be creative in our marketing efforts. Simply talking about it will take us nowhere. There are other avenues that can be used to publicize Zambia’s tourist attractions. Observing from the outside, however, I want to suggest a more aggressive, proactive and creative stance in order to leave a strong impression on the visitors. Let me begin by making some observations concerning Zambia’s tourism and offer some suggestions for the future.

During my time at Colgate-Palmolive, I used to travel the world quite a lot. Flying on British Airways from London to Lusaka via Harare was a sad experience for a marketing person like me.  Before landing in Harare, passengers would be shown a video of tourist spots in Zimbabwe including the Victoria Falls which was said to be in Zimbabwe. On the flight from Harare to Lusaka we were shown “Mr. Bean”.

We know the Japanese love to travel the world; the Germans, British and Americans love the coasts of Kenya, Tanzania and possibly Namibia. Americans love England, Japan, South Africa and Kenya and a few other countries. Other nationals have their preferred destinations. What we ought to be doing is negotiate with some of these major airlines that ply these areas and flight short documentaries, infomercials and advertorials during their in-flight entertainment. These could be something like five to ten minute hard-hitting promos that must leave the potential tourist desiring to see more of the country in person. Not only should the above be on air carriers but selected cruise ships that visit the coastal cities of East and Southern Africa and even other carefully selected parts of the world. We have to think outside the box and venture into new territories of tourism marketing.

Look at what countries like Macedonia, Estonia, Malta, Zanzibar and Nigeria are doing on international TV networks such as CNN. I once saw one of the English Premier League football wearing an “Invest in Tanzania”  strip during one of their matches. That is smart marketing. Yes, it is costly but very effective. 

There must be a deliberate move to establish tourist spots in areas were no natural tourist attractions exist. I have been to Chilubi Island two or three times and that place can be turned into a wonderful tourist spot complete with a wild game sanctuary, hotels and other entertainment facilities supported by a modern medium-size airport to handle shuttle flights. I envision cruise boats on the lake for fishing and shuttling tourists to a floating casino and entertainment center built on the middle of the lake including a nine-hole golf course by the shore. This is the kind of thinking that South African businessman Sol Kersner had when he developed Sun City and Lost City in South Africa. The only thing natural about Las Vegas in America is the desert, but it has been the entertainment capital of the world for years.

Another tourist spot could be on the TAZARA rail line corridor. There is already a game park along the way in Northern Zambia which could be developed into a full tourist attraction. I learned years ago that TAZARA had a fully equipped presidential coach and a director’s coach which were never used. After developing this tourist spot, a special train with these two coaches or even specially manufactured ones can be used by tourists or, companies can have board meetings or workshops on board the train. If the normal passenger train is used, it can “unhook” the tourist coaches at the tourist resort and pick them up on the way back from Dar es Salaam.

In the Chongwe District, I don’t need to mention the need to develop the Chinyunyu area with its hot spring. This must be supplemented by other “artificial” but natural looking forms of sites and entertainment areas. The proximity of Chongwe to Lusaka opens up the potential of local tourists and economic growth for the district.

A lot of research would have to be carried out to determine what the tourist really wants to see, do and enjoy. Feasibility studies and development strategies and plans can then be put into place. The sad thing at the moment is that some of the tourist sites are targeted toward game-viewing only, which foreign investors find easy to do because they are already in existence in other countries.  In marketing, we talk about “the Point of Difference”. What is the difference between my product and the competitor’s? Why must you then buy my product? In advertising, this is what is known as “The reason why”.  The reason why you must visit Zambia and not Kenya is...

To develop something to the magnitude of Sun City or Lost City takes vision and willpower. This is something that investors in the United Arab Emirates have commendably achieved and they would be my prime target for investment.

Another area to be seriously looked into is investment into arts and culture as a tourism tool. Visitors go to London’s West End and thousands go to New York’s Broadway to watch plays and musicals. We really do not have anything like that in this country. South Africa has the Market Theater, Sun City, etc where local and foreign visitors go. Even Harare has open-air performances of various kinds on First Street, right in the town center.

Every major city and  tourist site must have a facility for performing arts where Zambian musicians and dancers, actors and standup comedians, for example, can entertain tourists. This opens up a much wider arena for our artists who can be hired to perform for some period thereby exposing them to performing in front of diverse cultures as well as earning regular income. Just imagine one of our own comedians, dance group or music outfit engaged to perform for a period of time at a tourism venue on the shores of Samfya, Kasaba Bay, Chilubi Island and various game parks.

The government must move quickly to help grow the film industry in Zambia, for example, by facilitating the introduction of a film commission as is the case in other parts of the world. Various countries have film commissions that attract major movie productions and market business as well as foster the growth of the creative media industries in their various locations. This not only exposes those locations to the entire world but give an opportunity to our own actors, cameramen and sound engineers to be exposed to higher production values.

Zambia has some brilliant talent in the arts that, unfortunately, are still not appreciated. In Lusaka, apart from the Lusaka Theater Club House, there is no other venue suitable for performances. The Mulungushi International Conference Center or the New Government Complex were not designed for major theater productions or musical performances. We need modern auditoriums specifically designed for performing arts. This opens up a whole new area for our cities and towns entertaining both local and foreign tourists. At the moment, businessmen and other visitors come to Lusaka, do their business and go back when they could spend more time and money enjoying what Lusaka has to offer in performing arts.

Government must also not pay lip-service to enforcing copyright laws. There must be no stone left unturned to protect our musicians’ works from piracy. A special force must be constituted to enforce the law and completely wipe out piracy in this country. Pirated copies of CD’s and DVD’s are all over and are sold in daylight with no serious or continuous action taken against perpetrators. 

It must also be borne in mind that tourism is not just for foreign visitors. Zambians must be able to be a major part of the tourist population in their own land. In the United States, Americans themselves are huge contributors to tourism as they travel throughout their nation seeing the beauty of their country.

Here in Zambia, our tourism campaign is targeted towards foreigners while most Zambians will never have the opportunity to visit places of interest in their own country because it is unaffordable. Government must encourage Zambian tourists.

For us to achieve this, we have to make it affordable for our people. Egypt is a perfect example of a nation that promotes tourism amongst its people. While living and working in Egypt in 1992, I paid much more as a foreigner to visit tourist sites such as the national museum and the Pyramids of Giza, but Egyptian nationals pay a fraction of that including accommodation. The tourism industry in Zambia can generate increased numbers of Zambian tourists by emulating what Egypt has done.

To strengthen family values, it is important that they spend time together without the everyday pressure at home and at work. We must encourage employers to work out internal schemes that will make it possible for their employees to take time off work and relax in the wonderful tourist sites in their own country. With reduced rates for Zambians, tourism providers would benefit from increased business volume, especially during low peak periods when special offers could be made available for citizens.

To further underline the importance of creative excellence in marketing tourism, let me give an example of the opportunity we lost during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. A lot of noise was made here by government that we would witness thousands of tourists, as if we were the ones hosting the event. What was not done was proper creative planning and marketing Zambia to the countries participating in the finals and therefore Zambia benefited little or  nothing from that event. I had a plan for this but no one was willing to listen. Creativity and the ability to expertly market and execute an idea bringing it to life are vital. Here is what I would have done to prepare and market Zambia in readiness for the World Cup:

I would have engaged a top flight professional Public Relations or Advertising Company or at least assembled a highly creative team of marketing experts to produce a promotional video about Zambia. This would cover the following:

•           A country overview

•           Tourist destinations and shopping complexes, entertainment, etc.

•           Transportation facilities, (Motor vehicle hire, roads)

•           Training grounds and football stadiums, (e.g. sports complexes or even some facilities at schools such as Baobab College, Barclays Sports Complex etc.)

•           Hotels, Lodges, etc

•           Other recreational facilities, Golf courses, basketball courts, cricket, etc

•           Airline services in and out of Lusaka to Johannesburg.

•           Security services 

•           Similarity of climatic conditions between Zambia and South Africa during the period leading to World Cup finals.

·                     Communications facilities

The video would be Zambia’s marketing tool targeted at Football Associations around the world inviting them to use this country as their final preparatory base before the World Cup finals.

The first pitch would be to the foreign diplomats accredited to Zambia who would be the sounding spring-board to their governments and football associations. A small team with great communication skills and marketing expertise would then make a pitch to the various football associations in person and be able to answer any questions arising. Countries like England, Holland, Germany, Mexico, Belgium, USA, Japan, South Korea, etc. would have been my prime targets.

After selling this package, it is very likely that some of the teams would have come to camp here. We did not do this and we lost out from establishing new sporting links and an influx of visiting football supporters. Yes, tennis star, Rafael Nadal did nip into Livingstone for a short while and that was it.

Now, you are probably thinking: “Mr. Malunga, if you had that idea, why didn’t you come forward?” In fact I wrote a letter to a former Tourism Minister  with ideas on how we could revamp our tourism industry. I never got a reply and not even an acknowledgement of receipt! And I was offering ideas for free!

In conclusion, we do not have to break our necks or recreate the wheel. A lot of good things were done in the 1970’s by the then Zambia National Tourism Bureau from which we can learn a few things. I stand to be corrected but I believe a foreign institution was hired a few years ago to “rebrand” Zambia’s tourism. I didn’t think that was really necessary but a waste of money.

Zambia needs to move quickly and creatively to expand, lead, win and maintain a strong market share in tourism regionally.  We need to do this in manufacturing, agriculture and other fields because opportunities will not always be there. See how the West moved into Eastern Europe with huge investments? This in a way was to show that communism had failed. This will happen to us when the situation in Zimbabwe changes for the better. Remember they were doing much better than us in manufacturing, agriculture and tourism before internal conflict. Things in that country will definitely improve and new investors, especially from the Western countries will move in and one of the areas will be tourism aside from other sectors, just to prove that the Mugabe regime messed up and the call for regime change was correct. We need to capture and dominate this area of investment  quickly.

When I was living in America in the 1970’s, I had in my bedroom room a huge poster by the Zambia National Tourism Bureau  which had a full color
picture of a hippo with its mouth wide open. Screaming across its mouth were the words: “COME ON IN, IT’S GREAT IN ZAMBIA!” That powerful payoff line said it all about our beautiful country.

                                                              It’s just a thought.