Livingstone and the town of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe are co-hosting what is regarded as a watershed tourism "indaba" for the tourism industry in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.Construction and refurbishment of infrastructure is approaching completion in time for the opening of the five-day event on August 24. There are already several spin-offs for the city. A Boeing 747 airliner, one of the largest in use worldwide, landed at Livingstone's revamped Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport on July 2. It was a milestone.
It was the first time that such a large aircraft had landed in the city. On board were special passengers -- W. Bush and his wife Laura -- who were arriving for charity work in Livingstone."You have created history. This is the first time that a Boeing 747 has landed at (this) airport ...Your safe landing gives this airport the proper status of an international airport," said Dr Christine Kaseba, the pediatrician wife of Zambian President Michael Sata, who was their host. The airport runway has been extended to take larger aircraft in order to facilitate the direct arrival of delegates to the UNWTO conference. The terminal building was being reconstructed and refurbished even before.Following those improvements, Kenya Airways now operates direct flights into Livingstone. Some visa requirements have been eased. Citizens of Hong Kong and Ireland for instance will now not require visas to enter Zambia.
