Ms. Masebo
By BRIAN HATYOKA –
ZAMBIA’s Tourism and Arts Minister Sylvia Masebo and her Zimbabwean counterpart Walter Mzembi are expected to hold a high level meeting with United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Secretary General Taleb Rifai in Spain this week.
The meeting will be on visa facilitation and open skies.
The three are expected to discuss how Zambia and Zimbabwe can influence other African countries on the issues of visa facilitation
and open skies drawing lessons from the 20th Session of the UNWTO General Assembly.
This follows the successful co-hosting of the 20th Session of the UNWTO General Assembly in Zambia’s tourist capital Livingstone and Zimbabwe’s
Victoria Falls town from August 24 to 29, 2013.
This is according to a press statement released yesterday by First Secretary for Tourism at the Zambian Embassy in France Percy Ngwira.
Mr Ngwira, who is also UNWTO liaison officer for Zambia in Spain, said Ms Masebo was accompanied to Spain by her Permanent Secretary Stephen Mwansa, senior officials from the Ministry of Tourism and Arts and the Zambia Tourism Board (ZTB).
He said the minister and her delegation, who arrived in Madrid on Monday this week, had been joined by the Charge D’Affaires and two
officers from the Zambian Mission in Paris.
“Ms Masebo and her delegation are in Spain on the invitation by the UNWTO to attend the 34th edition of FITUR, which is an Annual
International Tourism Fair currently taking place from January 22 to 26, 2014.
“The honorable minister has a busy schedule that includes a presentation on the investment opportunities in the Tourism Industry
in Zambia at the 5th edition of INVESTOUR–The Tourism Investment and Business Forum for Africa,” Mr Ngwira said.
In its 5th year, the event organised as part of FITUR, INVESTOUR is an annual platform where African, Spanish and Portuguese companies have the opportunity to discuss new business opportunities and cooperation.
As in previous years, the forum is an initiative promoted by the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), FITUR and Casa África to promote sustainable tourism in Africa by providing a platform to facilitate dialogue on new business opportunities and cooperation between representatives of African tourism and potential Spanish and Portuguese investors.
Ms Masebo is also expected to chair a meeting for the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Region Tourism Ministers at which the Tourism Ministers are expected to discuss the restructuring of the Regional Tourism Organisation for Southern Africa (RETOSA).
She would also have interviews with various Spanish and International electronic and print media.
The Minister’s delegation is expected back in Zambia on January 26.
