Investigating communication strategies on touristic attractions and other historical heritage sites in Lusaka, Zambia(2014-2016)

Abstract

It appears that much information in terms of communication, advertising and marketing about tourism in Zambia has focused mainly on Livingstone, particularly the Victoria Falls. Even though Lusaka has one of the highest concentrations of touristic and heritage sites in Zambia, it has received very little attention. The tourism sector has seemingly not done well in exposing and advertising most of the heritage and monuments and is currently under-performing. Based on agenda setting, communication and knowledge gap theories, this study was carried out to investigate communication strategies on tourist attractions and historical heritage sites in Lusaka. From this study, it tried to establish dissemination, consumption and tourism communications on tourist attractions and other heritage sites in Lusaka. It was divided into 4 parts namely questionnaire survey involving 150 respondents, direct observation and physical visits of 5 tourist and heritage sites, in-depth interviews with 5 key informants and document review. A multi-stage cluster sampling design was employed for high, medium, and low communities represented by Matero, Libala and Roma, respectively. Simple random sampling was done for direct observation of heritage sites was established that even though efforts were being made to communicate tourism information through electronic and print media, communication strategies of government line ministries, agencies and commissions are out-dated, inadequate or absent. There was poor knowledge and consumption of the local touristic scene by respondents which may partly be explained by reduced interest by consumers, and lack of information and understanding of the touristic potential in Lusaka. Secondly, there was disconnecting between the expectations of disseminators of information and the consumers arising from a weak and disjointed communication strategy by many stakeholders. In conclusion, to offer an effectively and efficient communication for tourism development in Lusaka, the key players must facilitate different levels of user engagement that promotes more community outreach activities and involvement of different age groups.