The Sunday News
Dalphine Tagwireyi in Victoria Falls
THE launch of the Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) uni-visa is set to broaden and enrich the tourism experience while providing important economic benefits to the region’s diverse host countries and communities, officials said.
Zimbabwe and Zambia celebrated this milestone when they launched the KAZA uni-visa at the Victoria Falls Bridge on Friday. Before the launch of the uni-visa, tourists visiting Southern Africa were required to apply for separate visas for each country they visited due to the different visa regimes that were in place.
After the realisation that this system was a deterrent for multi-country travel in the region, the development of a common visa, simply known as a uni-visa, was endorsed by SADC Heads of State in 1998.
Tourism stakeholders as well as Government officials agreed that in undertaking the uni-visa initiative, the region would become a more competitive tourism destination as the added convenience and reduced costs would encourage more visitation and longer stays.
Speaking at the launch, SADC Ministers responsible for tourism, incumbent chairman and Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Eng Walter Mzembi welcomed the accomplishment and initiation of the KAZA visa.
“An analysis of global tourism development shows that many regions are facing challenges of socio-political instability including terrorism. This is an opportune moment for our region to take advantage of its competitive edge on the continent and increase its contribution to the growing global market share from the current four percent of the world’s global arrivals of 1 087 billion to double digit by 2020,” said Minister Mzembi.
His Zambian counterpart Minister of Tourism and Art Jean Kapata said that increase in tourism arrivals would benefit both nations economically.
“Increase in tourism arrivals are a boost for our economies because this improves the job market through job creation and poverty reduction,” she said.
Minister Kapata said that tourist arrivals showed that 12 tourists who arrive create employment for one individual hence it provided opportunities as tourism could not be an economy’s backbone on its own.
“We need the participation of labour ministries as they control the immigration department and when measures are implemented we can curb unruly elements that only contribute to the demise of the tourism sector,” she said.
Formerly priced at US$70 the old visa has now been replaced as it was frustrating because once one entered Zambia on their return to Zimbabwe they purchased a new one at the same cost. However, the new visa expires after 30 days and costs US$50. It can also be used by one-day visitors to Chobe in Botswana.
While there have been obstacles to implementation, significant momentum is now building towards the UNIVISA. This pilot initiative is being developed in close cooperation with the KAZA TFCA and the Regional Tourism Organisation of Southern Africa(RETOSA) and is being supported by the World Bank and the German Development Bank KfW.
If the pilot project under way is successful, a common visa would then be established among all five KAZA TFCA countries.
By eliminating the need for tourists to obtain multiple visas, cross-border travel would become easier and less costly. This should provide a major boost to tourism within the world’s largest TFCA.
This will likely involve the additional incorporation of South Africa, Mozambique, and Swaziland and a successful result would encourage expansion to the full list of the 15 SADC countries.
