Zambia 'has a great tourism future'

Zambia's appeal to tourists has a great future according to one insider.

Errol Hickey, chairman of Zambia's national tourist board, claims that the African country it building new hotels and attracting more foreign visitors to a nation famous as the site of the Victoria Falls.

"There's a great future for Zambia. It's got a lot to offer," Mr Hickey told the BBC News article.

"In Africa, there are really only two places for you to see - the pyramids in Egypt and the Victoria Falls in Zambia," he added.

Taking advantage of such a natural attraction, the government of the central African nation plans to bring in a million tourists every year by 2010.

Yet there is more to the country than the spectacular waterfalls - it has colourful markets and political stability that is lacking in neighbours such as Zimbabwe.

Along the banks of the mighty Zambezi River, visitors who fly to Zambia can even pay to stay at the five-star Livingstone Hotel, complete with giraffes, zebras and monkeys wandering its grounds.

"I think Zambia is an unpolished gem," said the hotel's general manager Craig Storkey in the same article, adding his voice to a growing number proclaiming the attractions of the country.

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