Zambia’s southern city of Livingstone, which was approaching ghost town status a decade ago, has experienced a remarkable economic recovery kick-started by international investment in tourism infrastructure at Victoria Falls.
The city that last saw a boom when the bridge was built over “the smoke that thunders” more than a century ago has been lifted from three decades of stagnation and a national economy gutted by the collapse of its textile and clothing industry, caused by cheap foreign imports.
Barry Standish of the South African-based Economic Information Services, which has studied the development, says: “Today Livingstone is booming with tourism contributing nearly $400million to regional GDP in six years. More than 15Â 000 direct and indirect jobs have been created. There has been major infrastructure development.
“Property values in Livingstone are rising appreciably. Derelict and neglected amenities such as golf courses and historic buildings have been renovated and refurbished.
“There has been a tenfold increase in the city’s contribution to Zambia’s GDP.”
The catalyst for this recovery is the $60million, two-hotel complex built in 2000 by Sun International Zambia next to the Victoria Falls.
The Zambian government fully supported this single largest private sector investment in its tourism industry.
“The Falls Complex has since stimuÂlated wide-ranging tourism development in Livingstone, ranging from hotels, guest houses and lodges to tour operators, concessionaries, activity providers such as river operators, air charter companies, transport companies, restaurants and informal traders,” says Standish. “By 2005 more than a quarter of Livingstone’s population benefited from tourism.
“A major factor in the success of Livingstone’s tourism industry has been funding by the Zambian government and international donors of infrastructural development, most notably for Livingstone airport.”
This has produced some startling statistics. Annually the airport has seen a 30% increase in the number of flights, from 2Â 700 in 2001 to 7Â 500 in 2005. Larger commercial aircraft now outnumber the light planes touching down.
In the same period passenger numbers are up by an astounding 320% a year: 8Â 900 in 2001 and 180Â 000 in 2005.
The Falls Complex recorded 89Â 000 bed nights in 2002/03. Two years later, this had risen to 171Â 000.
Standish estimates that the number of guests accommodated in Livingstone but outside the Falls Complex is three to four times that of seven years ago.
“Importantly, the Livingstone tourism industry is attracting more and more business from the United Kingdom, Europe and other non-African points of origin, which means the city is increasingly becoming a destination for high-spending northern hemisphere visitors and is becoming less reliant on tourists from South Africa,” says Standish.
“Livingstone is an empirical example to other developing countries that have natural tourism assets and are prepared to work hard to secure private sector interest on the back of public sector infrastructural development and, most of all, attractive incentives and a high level of cooperation.”
Zambia is now looking to develop other sights, making tourism one of its most important economic activities and a key weapon in its national poverty reduction strategy.
The country aims to attract more than a million tourists a year by 2010.