Temba

Your information is wrong. For tourist visitors from Zambia for up to 36 months the classification is B1 and their is no fee. See the link below.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/re...city_3711.html

Ted

Temba

The classification is B1 for business travelers and B2 for tourist and pleasure travel. See link below:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1286.html

I have seen this misrepresented so many times on this forum I decided to post the above. Not only have foreign nationals misrepresented the visa program but an American or two has also suggested that the overzealous visa fees charged by some African countries were simply tit for tat. Not True!

Ted

spassvogel

Okay Ted if you say so.
I got that Info in Zambia....
I have no clue which letter indication is for what. Could also not find a page which shows that clearly.
The link you provide is on Reciprocity which is not particularly right because US Citizens must pay Visa fee when visiting Zambia.

Anyway -

Why don't Americans complain about that Visa fee to be paid in Zambia while the US grants them fee free entry?

Zambian Citizens which visit Germany have to pay €60 and therefore I accept happily I have to pay when visiting Zambia.

SV

Temba

Well Spacevogel, the U.S. is a very generous, both as a Nation and as individuals, in case you haven't noticed.
Ted

GreenDrake

Thanks Rickmck that gives some insight to what is going on with Kafunta. As to the overall trend in Zambia that shows 20-30% annual increases over the last 5 years I was trying to think of this from a business stand point. A couple of thoughts came to mind:

1) These increases are largely driven by increases in business costs of supplies and labor. Difficult for me to believe that the labor and supply costs outside of fuel have gone up anywhere near this rate.

2) They feel that the demand is greater than supply and that this demand is relatively price insensitive even in the face of the current recession. They also may calculate that even with slightly decreased occupancy rates they will have equal or higher revenues with this strategy. I think this is what is going on and we will see if they are right. On a personal level, I have a serious Africa/Zambia addiction and will do a lot to get my “fix”, but this has acted like a 12 step program and I may have to pass this year.

3) Maybe we have the pricing mechanism that is prevalent in the airline and healthcare industries. You have rack rates that are the highest rates such as a business class ticket or a full charge paying patient from out of the country. This class of business by percentage is the smallest volume, but this class contributes a significant portion of the overall revenue and you have considerable leeway in raising prices in this segment. Maybe true to an extent, so that annual 30% increase becomes a 25% with a high volume agent getting good rates so I still think #2 is the driver here.

LAleslie

Lynn, what I meant by "sexy" (and why it's in quotes) was from a marketing/perception point of view. Frequent Africa travelers know what you are talking about. But most people (and I'm talking about Americans here) first think about South Africa, or the Okavango Delta, or even Zim because of the falls and the long history of safari camps. But Zambia is way off their radar. I've never heard any American say he or she is dreaming of going to Zambia. And since first-time visitors (I assume) are a prime market, they need to put themselves out there as a "sexy" destination, whether that means safari sexy, or price sexy, or whatever.

uhoh_busted

Good thread (took some effort to find it!) I'm looking at a possible (minimum 10 days) trip this Fall and had wanted to try Zambia, but the costs just seemed too high in comparison even to deals offered in Botswana and South Africa. But with airfares as high as they are (and it looks like airfare to Europe is dropping lately) maybe Africa will still be out of our reach financially as an option. (We KNOW we can travel inexpensively in Europe.) As I have friends in South Africa, and I also know we can travel easily there, it becomes my most attainable option for Africa travel. Once I thought Zambia would be a great option as well, but it appears not. That's sad because I liked the looks and activity options of a number of mid-level camps.

atravelynn

uhoh,
When are you looking to make plans? If you won't be securing flights and making deposits for some time, I'd check again on Zambia. Discounts can pop up.

If Zambia is still your first choice, I'd ask about discounts or name a price and see what happens.

luangwablondes

I was looking at MT Beds. At the prices for South African properties on that site, there won't be alot of people going to Zambia.

raelond

I was in Botswana and Zambia in June/July, 2006 at Robin Pope camps. The game viewing was awesome in Botswana and just ok in Zambia. After off-roading in Botswana, having to stay on the roads in South Luagwa was just not the same. I would only consider going back if the prices are reduced a lot, as I feel they are over priced now.

cary999

We were at Zambia Robin Pope camps Tena Tena and Nsefu in Sep of 2006. We went off road all the time. But I agree that game viewing was just ok. And that area is supposed to be good for leopards -but- after spending 11 nights in those camps in 2005 and 2006 we saw leopard once. And for about 30 seconds. It is though beautiful terrain that has a primitive prehistoric feel to it. Also agree that they need to halve their rates before I'll go back.

regards - tom

GreenDrake

Well I received my first e-mail directly from a Zambian camp with a "slight" discount. I say slight because prices increased almost 20% per year for the last 5 years. This discount still not enough for me, but maybe it represents a sign that the world economy has started to have an effect on Zambian pricing.

On a side note, I always wondered why camps I stayed at never solicited me via email for repeat business, as it would be cheap marketing. You would think if they had vacancies that prior customers would be prime targets to offer "deals". I guess they did not need my business and perhaps this will change.

This from the Bushcamp Company:

Stay 5 nights pay for 4 nights
Stay 8 nights pay for 6 nights

Safari_Craig

robin pope is offering free flights for safaris of 10+ days.

wilderness safaris has all properties in zambia at stay6pay4 rates if booked by may 31. this is truly a 33% discount so it comes close to the 40% people mentioned above. wilderness safaris also has zimbabwe on stay6pay4 so twelve days in zambia and zimbabwe can be had for the price of eight (based on current rack/published prices). considering that the pre-discount rate was adequate to fill beds, this makes the current rate a relative bargain (i guess?). the current discount drops the high season "rack rate" of KNP's shumba camp to $547 and rack rate of Makalolo to $471. rack rate in botswana is $900 high season. in this scenario, zim is half of bots and zam is 39.7% off from bots.

craig beal

Tanky

I'm still weighing up the options for my two trips this year. However, as I travel alone I keep getting hit with huge single supplements something I usually manage to get around with longer stays in SA or CCAfrica camps.

Tried Kenya - way too expensive for a (probably crowded) National Park...in fact it was cheaper to go to Botswana with Wilderness at the end of June.

Trying Zambia - what seemed like (relatively) decent initial prices went through the roof (+50%) with a single supplement. Personally I'd rather pay for someone to come with me than hand over 50% more.

Will be going to SA - it's odd I can spend 10 nights at Londolozi (not a cheap camp by any means) including a chartered flight for less than it costs to go to Zambia or Botswana for fewer nights.

I'm now considering either southern Tanzania (Ruaha and Selous) or maybe Botswana in November now Wilderness have extended their low season to November 1st.

Very frustrating...I can afford the prices but you feel they're taking the p***.

cary999

"robin pope is offering free flights for safaris of 10+ days."

From LAX (USA)?!?!?!
I can do that!!

regards - tom