New radio station Falls FM to market Zambia’s tourism

ZAMBIA’S  first tourism radio station, Falls FM is set to market the country’s tourism potential from the tourist capital, managing director Innocent Kabwe has said.

Mr Kabwe said the project which has gobbled more than K350 million to set up, focused on marketing tourism and public relations for the country.

Speaking in an interview in Livingstone yesterday, he said the electronic media was important for the promotion of tourism especially the radio bearing in mind the poor reading culture.

“We are doing the test transmission on 90.1 FM and we are waiting for the final go ahead by the Government,” he said.

He said everything was in place for the station to start operating and that it would be accessed by all embassies and high commissions as it would stream online.

He said the station would help in the promotion of domestic tourism as the Government would want to promote this aspect of tourism.

Mr Kabwe said his station had asked the Zambia Tourism Board (ZTB) and Livingstone Tourism Association (LTA) to be on board on the radio station as it would offer 80 per cent of its air time to tourism.

He said once the station was fully operational,  it would create a number of jobs for the local people.

Mr Kabwe said he had attended meetings on the preparations for the two countries (Zambia and Zimbabwe) to co-host the 20^th session of United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) general assembly next year and the new station would like to play a key role in the marketing of Livingstone and that it would be more informative.

“We want everyone to know about the cultural heritage of the country and that people should know that it is cheaper to come for a holiday in Livingstone,” he said.

Mr Kabwe urged young people not to wait for the Government to create employment.

He called on tour operators to partner with the radio by advertising on the station as it would be a way of giving back to the community. 

(Source : Times of Zambia via UKZAMBIANS, UK)