Capacity building and tourism promotion have been identified as areas through which the two countries can work together to build tourism resilience and sustainability
Kenya and Zambia are geared for more collaborations in a bid to boost tourism recovery and sustainability through capacity building. In a meeting on the sidelines of the Tourism Recovery Summit that was attended by Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism Principal Secretary Hon. Safina Kwekwe and Patrick Lungu, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Arts in Zambia, it was noted that the two countries plan to engage in more capacity building programmes that will lead to talent development with an aim of boosting tourism. This partnership is a continuation of an agreement arrived at in 2017 between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Zambian counterpart Edgar Lungu. So far, 50 Zambian have benefitted from scholarships to pursue various Diploma and Certificate courses at Kenya Utalii College.
“We don’t have to bring all the students who qualify for the programme to Kenya. We can develop talent back at home to enable us have a bigger pool of students trained,” said Hon. Kwekwe.
Student and lecturer exchange
The discussions also revolved around sending out final year students on an exchange programme to Zambia for one year to build up experience and grow. “Zambia has a relationship with us, we are now more than brothers and we want to support each other fully,” she said.
The student exchange programme will be a result of a proposed collaboration between Kenya Utalii College and Zambian Institute of Tourism Development that will also lead to lecturer exchange programmes, community development as well as joint research and consultancy.
Why There Cannot Be Tourism Recovery And Sustainability Without Developing Human Resources
Zambia reiterated their appreciation to Kenya and lauded the country for leading other African countries in tourism promotion. “It is good when we are united than when we are competing. We can have much richer experience of Africa if we build synergies,” said Lungu.
Lungu expressed Zambia’s growing interest in partnering with Kenya on capacity building and building connectivity between the two brands.
“We should move forward and identify areas where Kenya can train our people, and see where we can plug in. As a country, we would like to align to Kenya when it comes to promotion of local tourism.”
Shared strategies
The two leaders concurred that booming businesses lead to job creation and due to the potential in this sector, countries should be open to sharing strategies and building a strong case for local tourism.
“If we share experiences, we can emerge stronger, more resilient and more innovative. This will help us compete on a global scale,” he said.
Both Zambia and Kenya have unique tourism products that give guests spectacular experience. Zambia is known for over 100 water falls, including the Victoria Falls.
Tourists visit Kenya for safari to Masai Mara Reserve to see the wildebeest migration, the spectacular coastline around Mombasa and wildlife viewing of animals such as lions, elephants and giraffes. The country seeks to expand its business tourism offering to attract more meetings and conferences. “We have adequate infrastructure to bring such conferences to Africa for the benefit of Africa, not just Kenya,” said Hon. Kwekwe.
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