Stakeholder perspectives on the adequacy of sustainable tourism policy in Zambia: The case of the Kafue River catchment

This study examines the strategies for achieving sustainable tourism in biodiversity-rich regions, using Zambia's Kafue River Catchment as a case study. It specifically analyses the adequacy (and/or inadequacy) of Zambia’s current tourism policy to promote sustainable tourism from stakeholder perspectives and lived experiences. The Sustainability Theory guides its analysis. It utilises the qualitative case study design, which allows the use of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions to collect data. Thus, 21 community members (3 businesses, 16 households, and 2 customary chiefs) and three (3) key informants (1 association and 2 policymakers) were purposively selected for in-depth interviews from the population of about 200 households, five customary chiefs, and 12 businesses in the Lower Kafue River Catchment. The data analysis followed the qualitative thematic analysis approach. Its findings demonstrate that Zambia’s current tourism policy is inefficient in three critical aspects: content, implementation and justice. Based on this, the study concludes that there is an urgent need to revisit Zambia’s tourism policy to address the identified gaps and promote sustainable tourism both in the Kafue River Catchment and the country as a whole. In doing so, the study contributes to the current debates on sustainable tourism, reframing tourism policy as a co-created framework rather than a directive, which shifts policy from being compliance-orientated and externally imposed to being participatory, adaptive, and community-driven. As such, the study recommends the following as intervention measures: localised communication strategies, participatory governance platforms, continuous capacity building, and participatory policy implementation and monitoring mechanisms.