{"id":6253,"date":"2025-08-08T06:21:24","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T09:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=6253"},"modified":"2026-04-19T15:00:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T18:00:04","slug":"gambling-sector-drives-zambias-ambitious-tourism-growth-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/gambling-sector-drives-zambias-ambitious-tourism-growth-plans","title":{"rendered":"Gambling sector drives Zambia\u2019s ambitious tourism growth plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Casino licensing was highlighted at commercial show to boost tourism and broaden economy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Zambia.- Zambia<\/strong> is stepping up to ensure it welcomes a total of three million international tourists<\/strong> by the end of 2025, with the rapidly expanding gambling sector<\/strong> playing a key and transformative role in reaching this milestone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country put the spotlight on casino licensing<\/strong> as a key part of promoting gambling\u2019s role in boosting tourism at the 97th Agricultural and Commercial Show<\/strong> held from July 30 to August 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event celebrated innovation, growth and partnerships across agriculture, commerce and tourism. Including casino licensing at the prominent event indicated the government\u2019s recognition of gambling as an expanding industry<\/strong> that can bring in foreign visitors and investment<\/strong>, alongside the country\u2019s famous tourism features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Ministry of Tourism report revealed that international arrivals increased significantly, rising from 1.3 million in 2023 to 2.2 million in 2024; underscoring Zambia\u2019s growing appeal as a key destination<\/strong> in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minister Rodney Sikumba<\/strong> pointed out the rapid growth, saying: \u201cWith the momentum we\u2019re seeing, our target of 2.4 million arrivals is well within reach, and we might just break through the 3 million mark<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also stressed how important tourism is to Zambia\u2019s economy<\/strong>, which grew by 4 per cent in 2024, with hopes of hitting 6 per cent growth this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gambling the new frontier in tourism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While Zambia has long attracted visitors with its rich wildlife, vibrant cultural heritage and eco-tourism offerings, the gambling sector is quickly emerging as a significant contributor<\/strong> to the country\u2019s tourism economy. It\u2019s opening new doors and helping to diversify Zambia\u2019s appeal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Attendees at the Agricultural and Commercial Show exploring new opportunities, including the spotlight on casino licensing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By adding casino licensing alongside tourism licensing and grading at the 97th Agricultural and Commercial Show, the Ministry is signalling plans to fully bring regulated gambling into the country\u2019s tourism mix<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Popular venues like Lusaka Royale Casino, Majestic Casino and Casino Marina, spread across several cities, are already drawing in both local and international <\/strong>visitors, showing that Zambia\u2019s hospitality offers more than just its natural attractions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The focus on casino licensing at the Agricultural & Commercial Show reflects Zambia\u2019s changing approach to tourism – using gambling as a fresh attraction to encourage more visitors and investment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Casino Mauritius workers protest committee dissolution<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Casino licensing was highlighted at commercial show to boost tourism and broaden economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2809,"featured_media":7914,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Zambia is strategically leveraging casino licensing to significantly boost its international tourism sector, aiming for three million arrivals by 2025, and to diversify its national economy. This government initiative, prominently featured at the 97th Agricultural and Commercial Show, highlights the iGaming sector's increasing role in attracting foreign investment and visitors beyond traditional eco-tourism offerings.","focusai_entities":"Rodney Sikumba, Ministry of Tourism, Lusaka Royale Casino, Majestic Casino, Casino Marina","focusai_location":"Zambia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.85), operator_casino (0.95), marketing_crm (0.75), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.9), journalist_researcher (0.85)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Framework Details?","query":"What specific regulatory amendments or new governance frameworks are being developed to support the expanded casino licensing initiative in Zambia, particularly concerning responsible gambling and AML compliance?"},{"label":"Projected GGR Contribution?","query":"What are the Ministry of Tourism's projected Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) contributions from the expanded casino sector, and how will these impact Zambia's overall tourism economy and GDP growth targets?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60015,60013,60025],"tags":[60431,71,60190],"class_list":["post-6253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casino-news","category-east-africa","category-featured-article","tag-casino-licensing","tag-gambling","tag-tourism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2809"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6253"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6262,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6253\/revisions\/6262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}