Tourism expansion can create thousands of jobs – Jito

State House has projected that increasing international tourist arrivals from the current 2.3 million to five million annually could fundamentally reshape Zambia’s economic landscape by driving broad-based growth and massive employment generation. Speaking on the strategic roadmap for economic diversification, Jito Kayumba, the Special Assistant to President Hakainde Hichilema for Finance and Investment, emphasized that scaling the tourism sector would establish it as a formidable pillar alongside traditional heavyweights like mining. Kayumba explained that the remarkable multiplier effect of tourism spans multiple domestic industries, directly benefiting local agricultural producers, hospitality providers, logistics firms, and construction enterprises. With tourism currently contributing an estimated seven to eight percent to the Gross Domestic Product and generating over two billion dollars in economic activity, scaling up visitor volumes could elevate the sector's contribution to between 15 and 17 percent of GDP. Furthermore, officials estimate that reaching the five-millions-arrivals milestone could unlock roughly 1.7 billion dollars in direct tax revenues through park fees, corporate taxes, and Value Added Tax. This influx of diverse fiscal revenue would substantially expand the government's budgetary space, enabling critical public investments in rural infrastructure, water and sanitation initiatives, and citizen empowerment programs without aggravating sovereign debt burdens. Because tourism is inherently labor-intensive and geographically decentralized across various provinces and national parks, its growth directly translates into sustainable formal and informal job creation for local communities outside major urban centers. Industry stakeholders have largely welcomed the ambitious targets, pointing out that tourism proved to be a resilient economic buffer during recent macroeconomic challenges, including regional droughts. However, analysts note that ac