WESTERN PROVINCE Tourism, Trade and lnvestment Expo will focus at promoting Sports tourism and help in identifying affordable credit for women and youth entrepreneurship, said Kelvin Kamayoyo who is the Expo Advisor for Western Province. According to a definition by Gibson (1998, p. 49), Sports tourism is a “leisurebased travel that takes individuals temporarily outside of their home communities to participate and/or watch physical activities or to venerate attractions associated with physical activities”.
However, Kamayoyo has observed that Sports tourism which include hosting regular variety of football tournaments, fishing competition, marathon, sporting games on boatcruise, motor rallies, cycling and boxing despite having the potential in Western Province remain unexploited and its growth has been relatively sluggish. Therefore, the upcoming Provincial Expo to be held from the 19th to 25th September, 2022 under the theme: “Rapid Economic Transformation through lncreased Home-Grown Entrepreneurship, Value Addition and Trade” has prioritised Sports tourism in order to boost the tourism industry and diversify the economy of the Province.
Ahead of the Expo, Western Provincial Administration inconjunction with Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) have organised a FAZ Western Region – 2022 Provincial Cup Tournament for Men and Women Footballers from the 6th to 7th August, 2022 in Mongu. The final match will be played today Sunday, 7th August, 2022 at 13:00hrs at Mongu Stadium and entry is free. The Provincial Cup tournament will help in talent identification, strengthen public-private collaboration, enhance competition in football and raise awareness about the Expo especially among the youths, said Kamayoyo.
Kamayoyo emphaised that Sports tourism is substantially a diverse market that includes spectator sports and participation sports, as such the Province could benefit more if this industry was harnessed to the fullest. Furthermore, the Expo Advisor, Kamayoyo, urged the private sector in the Province to take advantage of the platform that the Expo offers to immediately register the Western Province Tourism Association (WTA) that will coordinate industry activities and advance the interests of both tourism operators and tourists in the Province.
