EXPLORE YOUR COUNTRY BEFORE ABROAD
Minister launches Take a Holiday Yamu Loko campaign to promote domestic tourism, create jobs and unlock local investment opportunities.
By Francis Maingaila ♥️
Lusaka, Zambia24 — November 4, 2026 — Zambians should discover, appreciate and invest in their own country's tourism attractions before looking abroad for holiday experiences. The country's waterfalls, national parks, lakes, cultural heritage sites and other natural attractions present opportunities for business growth, job creation, investment and improved livelihoods for communities.
Ms Kasune was speaking in Lusaka yesterday during the launch of the Take a Holiday Yamu Loko campaign, where she said domestic tourism needed to become part of the lives of ordinary Zambians rather than remain an activity associated with people who had money to spend on expensive holidays.
"For too long, taking a holiday has been viewed as a luxury or something just for a few. We all can participate. It requires a mindset change to realise that there are important sites that we can see and they are within our reach," she said.
Ms Kasune said Zambia was blessed with an extraordinary range of tourism destinations, from waterfalls and lakes to national parks, cultural heritage sites and adventure attractions. However, many of these destinations remained underutilised despite their potential to contribute to the national economy and improve the livelihoods of communities.
She said domestic tourism was essential to building a strong and sustainable tourism industry because local travellers provided a market for hotels, tour operators, transport providers, restaurants and other businesses throughout the year.
The minister said the campaign supported the Government's broader Grow Zambia agenda by encouraging economic activity, strengthening private-sector participation and creating opportunities for citizens to benefit from the country's tourism resources.
Ms Kasune said Zambia's ambition of attracting five million international tourist arrivals annually by 2031 required more than marketing destinations to foreign visitors. The country needed a competitive tourism economy supported by improved accessibility, quality infrastructure, attractive investment conditions and a vibrant domestic market.
"Achieving this ambition requires more than marketing the destinations. It requires a competitive tourism economy, improved accessibility, quality infrastructure, attractive investment conditions and a vibrant domestic market," Ms Kasune said.
She identified poor connectivity to tourist destinations, high operational costs and investment barriers as some of the challenges affecting the growth of the industry.
Ms Kasune said Government remained committed to working with relevant institutions and the private sector to improve road access, transport connectivity, reliable utilities and digital infrastructure while reducing the cost of doing business.
She observed that several of Zambia's spectacular tourism assets remained underutilised or received limited recognition, partly because of inadequate infrastructure and tourism services.
The minister cited waterfalls, lakes, national parks, heritage sites and cultural attractions across the country as opportunities for developing tourism circuits, accommodation facilities, transport services and community enterprises.
She said the development of these destinations would create economic opportunities not only for established tourism operators but also for families and communities living around tourist attractions.
Ms Kasune also called on employers and corporate organisations to make domestic tourism part of their staff outings, team-building activities and employee incentive programmes.
She said taking employees to local tourist destinations would expose them to the country's attractions while supporting businesses across the hospitality and tourism value chain.
Turning to young people, the minister said digital content creators and social media influencers had an important role in changing how Zambians viewed and experienced their country.
She said the Yamu Loko Influencer Challenge provided an opportunity for young people to use their creativity and digital platforms to introduce lesser-known destinations to wider audiences.
Ms Kasune urged participating content creators to produce authentic stories about Zambia's tourism attractions, culture and people, emphasising that their work should encourage actual visits rather than simply generate social media likes.
"We want to ensure that those who come to your page are able to take that journey, so that it goes from just liking what they see on your social media page to actually taking a holiday with their friends or their families," she said.
The minister revealed that she would also participate in the influencer challenge, recalling that she had visited several local tourist attractions during the election period, including the Zambezi Source.
She jokingly challenged content creators to raise their game, saying she had already declared her interest in the K100,000 prize and was ready to compete.
Ms Kasune said Zambia's tourism story extended beyond familiar destinations such as Livingstone and included many attractions that deserved greater national and international recognition.
She highlighted the Northern tourism circuit, the cultural richness of Western Province, wildlife experiences in national parks and Livingstone's adventure tourism attractions as some of the experiences available to travellers.
She also singled out Kafue National Park as one of the country's major tourism assets whose potential deserved greater recognition.
The minister said Zambians needed to become ambassadors of their own country by visiting local destinations, sharing their experiences and encouraging others to explore the attractions available within Zambia.
She stressed that tourism growth needed to translate into tangible benefits for citizens through more jobs, increased investment, stronger local enterprises and opportunities for communities surrounding tourism sites.
Ms Kasune commended the Zambia Tourism Agency, the Tourism Council of Zambia, Madson Financial Services and other cooperating partners for supporting the campaign and demonstrating their commitment to promoting domestic tourism.
She reaffirmed the Ministry of Tourism's commitment to working with the private sector and other stakeholders to unlock the full potential of the industry.
Ms Kasune then officially launched the Take a Holiday Yamu Loko campaign, urging Zambians to visit destinations they had never explored, take their families and friends on local adventures, experience their country's culture and support local tourism businesses.
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Acting Chief Executive Officer Abigail Shansonga said the Take a Holiday campaign remained an important platform for encouraging Zambians to discover the country's tourism attractions and contribute to the growth of the domestic tourism market.
Ms Shansonga said the campaign, first introduced in 2003 and subsequently relaunched in 2004 and 2005, had played a significant role in encouraging citizens to explore Zambia and experience its diverse tourism offerings.
She said the agency was moving beyond simply creating awareness about tourism destinations to ensuring that promotional activities translated into actual travel, increased expenditure and meaningful economic opportunities for local communities and businesses.
"Our objective is to convert awareness into travel, and travel into spending, and spending into meaningful economic opportunities for local communities and businesses," Ms Shansonga said.
She said achieving this required innovation, strategic partnerships and a better understanding of the changing needs and expectations of domestic travellers.
Ms Shansonga said the agency had already taken steps in this direction through the launch of the Holiday Yamu Loko Vision Series earlier this year, an initiative showcasing tourism experiences across all 10 provinces.
She said the programme had helped bring destinations closer to potential travellers, inspire people to make travel decisions and demonstrate the wide range of experiences available within Zambia.
The agency's focus, she said, remained on strengthening existing initiatives, expanding their reach and ensuring that destination marketing delivered tangible results for the tourism industry and the national economy.
Ms Shansonga said the latest campaign launch presented another opportunity to build on the progress made in domestic tourism promotion while introducing innovative approaches to make travelling within the country more accessible, attractive and rewarding for Zambians.
She acknowledged the support of the Ministry of Tourism, the agency's Board of Directors, corporate partners, tourism stakeholders and the media, saying their collaboration remained important in advancing domestic tourism.
The renewed focus on domestic tourism places local travellers and communities at the centre of efforts to grow the sector, with increased movement of people within the country expected to create opportunities for tourism businesses and other service providers.
Tourism Council of Zambia Chairperson Glyden Mungaila has called on Zambians to take a leading role in promoting domestic tourism, saying local travellers remain critical to sustaining businesses, protecting jobs and strengthening the country's tourism industry.
Speaking at the tourism industry event, she said the sudden interruption of international travel exposed the need for Zambia to develop a stronger domestic market rather than relying heavily on visitors from outside the country.
He said although the pandemic brought significant disruption to the tourism industry, it also provided important lessons about the role local travellers play in keeping tourism businesses and communities economically active during difficult times.
"Most importantly, it revealed the true economic significance of tourism and highlighted the critical role domestic travellers play in sustaining tourism enterprises, jobs and communities during times of crisis," Mr Mundarta said.
He said following the launch of the Domestic Tourism Strategy in 2022, the industry had worked closely with the Ministry of Tourism to encourage Zambians to explore their own country through initiatives such as the Take a Holiday Yamu Loko campaign.
Mr Mundarta said the campaign had helped raise awareness of Zambia's diverse tourism attractions while encouraging citizens to support local businesses, preserve employment and contribute to a more resilient tourism sector.
He said the industry now needed to build on that foundation by growing both domestic and international visitor arrivals while ensuring that tourism contributed more meaningfully to national development.
Mr Mundarta said tourism remained one of the sectors with considerable untapped potential in regional economies, despite its capacity to diversify the economy, generate foreign exchange, stimulate enterprise development, empower local communities and create employment.
He said the sector's contribution to national development needed greater recognition, with tourism positioned as a strategic pillar of economic growth and inclusive development.
Mr Mundarta also congratulated the newly appointed Minister of Tourism, Princess Kasune, saying her appointment reflected the growing contribution of women to tourism leadership across the continent.
He said women played an important role throughout the tourism value chain and that their representation at the highest levels of decision-making was encouraging for the industry.
Meanwhile, Mr Mundarta said the Tourism Council of Zambia was working on an initiative to encourage government leaders and other influential figures to experience domestic tourism first-hand and become ambassadors of local travel.
He said the initiative would involve identifying an appropriate destination that showcased Zambia's tourism experiences, with support from the Ministry of Tourism through the Department of National Parks and Wildlife.
Mr Mundarta said the Tourism Council would work with relevant government departments and tourism industry players to coordinate the experience, while Wildside Adventures had agreed to lead its organisation.
He said the initiative was intended to move beyond speeches and public campaigns by allowing decision-makers to personally experience the country's tourism attractions.
Mr Mundarta further announced that the tourism industry would soon join the Ministry of Tourism and the Zambia Tourism Agency in recognising outstanding individuals and businesses through the Tourism Excellence Awards.
He said the awards provided a platform to celebrate excellence, innovation and quality service across the tourism value chain while encouraging businesses to maintain high standards.
Mr Mundarta commended the Ministry of Tourism for consistently supporting initiatives that promoted local achievements, tourism experiences and industry players.
He said the renewed domestic tourism campaign was not merely about marketing tourism products but also about building national pride, strengthening destination advocacy and encouraging Zambians to appreciate their country's attractions.
"Zambia's greatest ambassadors should be Zambians themselves," he said.
The Zambia Tourism Agency (ZTA) has called on Zambians to take greater interest in exploring their own country, saying a strong domestic tourism market is essential to building a resilient, inclusive and sustainable tourism industry.
George Kaumba, representing ZTA Board Chairperson Kellan Johnson, said the agency's Take a Holiday campaign was designed to change the perception that holidays were expensive experiences reserved for wealthy people.
He said Zambia was endowed with extraordinary tourism attractions, ranging from the world-famous Victoria Falls and wildlife-rich South Luangwa National Park to the waterfalls of Northern Province, the vast landscapes of the country, rivers, cultural heritage and other natural attractions.
However, Mr Kaumba observed that many Zambians only knew these destinations through television and social media without ever having the opportunity to experience them personally.
"Zambia must not be a destination that is admired by the world but remains unexplored by its own people," he said.
Mr Kaumba said the campaign was built around the belief that domestic tourism deserved the same attention as international tourism because local travellers played an important role in sustaining tourism businesses and creating economic opportunities for communities.
He said Zambia recorded approximately 2.5 million international tourist arrivals in 2025, demonstrating the country's growing appeal as an international destination.
However, he stressed that the country's tourism ambitions went beyond attracting international visitors, as encouraging Zambians to travel locally would strengthen the industry and widen the economic benefits of tourism.
"A strong domestic tourism market is not simply an alternative to international tourism. It is the foundation of a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable tourism industry," Mr Kaumba said.
He explained that domestic travellers helped sustain accommodation establishments, restaurants, transport services, cultural enterprises and local communities, particularly during periods when international tourist numbers were low.
Mr Kaumba said the ZTA Board was committed to supporting initiatives that stimulated domestic tourism demand and strengthened the participation of local businesses across the tourism value chain.
He said one of the major barriers preventing many Zambians from travelling was the belief that taking a holiday required substantial financial resources.
Through the Take a Holiday campaign, he said, the agency was working with tourism operators to challenge that perception by promoting discounted holiday packages, accessible experiences and affordable travel options.
He explained that a holiday did not necessarily require an international flight or an expensive luxury package, as families could enjoy a weekend in Siavonga, experience the culture of Eastern Province, visit heritage sites, explore national parks or discover lesser-known destinations within the country.
"Taking a holiday should increasingly become part of the Zambian lifestyle, not an occasional luxury," he said.
Mr Kaumba disclosed that the agency was targeting the participation of at least 150 tourism operators under the campaign, including accommodation establishments, tour operators, travel providers and restaurants.
He said the initiative also introduced new approaches to destination marketing through digital storytelling, influencer-led experiences, corporate tourism packages and digital platforms connecting consumers to available tourism products.
He described the Take a Holiday Local Influencer Challenge, which was being unveiled at the launch, as an important component of the campaign.
He said the agency wanted content creators to move beyond simply displaying beautiful tourism destinations and instead provide practical information showing where Zambians could travel, what they could experience, how much it would cost and how they could make bookings.
"This evening, our message is simple. We do not want tourism content that only attracts likes and views. We want tourism content that inspires actual travel, generates bookings and puts money into local businesses," Mr Kaumba said.
He said the approach represented a shift towards measurable destination marketing, where the success of campaigns would be assessed not only through online visibility but also through actual consumer participation and economic benefits.
Mr Kaumba further emphasised the importance of private-sector partnerships in making the campaign successful, saying destination marketing was not a responsibility the agency could accomplish alone.
He commended tourism operators offering discounted packages and corporate partners, including Madson Financial Services, for supporting the initiative.
He encouraged more companies to come on board and urged tourism businesses to develop products that responded to the needs and purchasing power of the domestic market.
He said the ZTA Board would continue providing strategic oversight to ensure that the agency implemented Government policy, strengthened industry collaboration and delivered measurable results.
Mr Kaumba urged Zambians to take pride in their country's natural beauty, discover lesser-known attractions, celebrate their heritage and support local tourism businesses.
"Our country is beautiful. Our experiences are extraordinary, and our tourism industry belongs to all of us," he said.
"Before we invite the world to discover Zambia, let us also make time to discover it ourselves. Take a holiday."
Madson Financial Services Group has pledged K1 million towards promoting the Take a Holiday Yamu Loko domestic tourism campaign, adding private-sector backing to efforts to encourage more Zambians to explore the country's tourism attractions.
Chief Executive Officer Chabala Mumbi announced the pledge, saying the financial support would contribute to the promotion of the campaign and its efforts to grow domestic tourism.
The pledge comes as the Zambia Tourism Agency steps up its engagement with corporate partners and tourism operators to make local travel more accessible and encourage spending within the country's tourism industry.
The K1 million contribution also demonstrates the role of private-sector participation in supporting tourism promotion, creating opportunities for local businesses and ensuring that the benefits of increased domestic travel reach communities across Zambia.
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