Kitwe, Copperbelt-born Kerry MacFarlane runs Ntanda Ventures, founded in 2013, and a leading but small venture travel company focusing on Zambia. Like most people who have realized the importance of first having an educational qualification before starting any business, Kerry has had to earlier on invest in the right qualifications in travel and tourism. This saw her studying for and later obtaining in 1988, a Travel Diploma & IATA /UFTAA Certificate from Rapid Results College (Johannesburg, South Africa) She then went on to start the company on her own for the first 3 years and currently, the team has a staff complement of five. Behind the Ntanda Ventures founding was the urge to promote the country and its hidden gems, which was her passion, and to concentrate on leisure travel only. Asked what has been her biggest achievement in the travel and tourism sector and why, she responded, saying: “Creating employment in a small town.” She contends that it is not only women business owners that face the biggest hurdles in general. “I don’t think it is only women in the industry but for more for small companies who don’t have the buying power of large consortiums, dealing with little things like bank charges. My biggest hurdle is getting digital marketing right as the world is moving so fast in this direction.” She has observed that women in travel and tourism are not receiving the right support from the government. She thinks that the Zambian government doesn’t realize the potential…
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