. Dr Kasonde

By JUDITH NAMUTOWE –
THE Tourism Council of Zambia (TCZ) has said the yellow certificate fever demand by South African authorities for people coming from
Zambia has impacted negatively on tourism arrival in the country.
TCZ has, therefore, implored the Zambian Government to engage South Africa on a bilateral platform to waive that entry requirement.
TCZ chairperson Felix Mulenga said in an interview that it was imperative that the Government, through the ministries of Home Affairs, Health and Tourism, to quickly address the matter as this was impacting negatively on tourist arrivals in the country.
Mr Mulenga said South Africa imposed a yellow fever vaccination demand on people travelling to Zambia through that country and this had impacted negatively on the tourist arrivals in Zambia.
‘‘This is further increasing the cost of travel for tourists travelling through South Africa, because they have to pay for vaccination,’’ Mr Mulenga said.
Mr Mulenga said the council had also received reliable information that Botswana was also demanding yellow fever certification from people
travelling into Zambia through that country, a situation he described as unfortunate.
He said this was going to create unnecessary tourism tension in the country as Zambia was slowly becoming a less favoured tourism
destination in the region.
Mr Mulenga , however, praised the Government, for taking drastic steps in handling people from the four Ebola affected West African countries entering the country.
Health Minister  Joseph Kasonde said the measures were taken in consultation with Southern African Development Countries (SADC) Health ministers.
Ebola has ravaged some parts of West Africa killing more than 900 people, while more than 1, 600 are grappling with the disease.
The affected countries are Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
Mr Mulenga expressed hope that the situation would be controlled in infected countries as it would impact negatively on tourist arrivals.