Zambia to Host AviaDev Africa 2027 as Country Targets Major Aviation and Tourism Growth
Zambia has been confirmed as the host of AviaDev Africa 2027, with Zambia Airports Corporation Limited (ZACL) serving as the official host partner. The announcement coincides with the launch of Airlift Zambia, a comprehensive air access initiative aimed at closing connectivity gaps, attracting new international carriers, and securing direct long-haul routes to Europe, the Gulf, Asia and North America. AviaDev Africa - the continent's only dedicated air service development conference - has previously been held in Windhoek (2024), Zanzibar (2025) and Botswana (2026), and brings together airlines, airports, tourism authorities and government officials for focused route development and connectivity strategy. Recent airline additions to Zambia include Qatar Airways, Uganda Airlines, Fastjet Zimbabwe and Eswatini Air, while Proflight Zambia has expanded regionally with new services linking Lusaka and Livingstone to Windhoek and Gaborone.
Zambia's aviation ambitions are closely tied to a rapidly expanding tourism sector. International arrivals more than doubled from approximately 1.1 million in 2022 to 2.3 million in 2025, with the government targeting between 2.5 and 3 million arrivals in 2026 and a longer-term goal of building a USD $1 billion tourism industry by 2031. Tourism currently accounts for 7% of national GDP and supports 473,000 jobs - a figure forecast to rise to 613,000 by 2034. To underpin this growth, Zambia has committed K1.5 billion (approximately USD $55 million) to the sector in 2026, covering infrastructure, conservation, destination marketing and access to remote tourism sites. ZACL manages four international airports, including gateways to Victoria Falls and the Mfuwe wildlife corridor, with all four positioned as key nodes under the Airlift Zambia initiative.
Source: VoyagesAfriq
