. Msiska

By MELBOURNE MUSHITU –
SECRETARY to the Cabinet Rowland Msiska has said Government has prioritised the tourism sector in order to boost national development.
Dr Msiska said the Government had introduced a tourism levy aimed at improving funding for tourism infrastructure, marketing, product development, training and research.
“Through the ministry of Tourism and Arts, the Government has undertaken a major legislative reform by introducing the new Tourism and Hospitality Act to boost the quality and competitiveness of the Zambia tourism product as well as improve funding to the sector,” he said.
Dr Msiska said the Government had also initiated the ongoing Link Zambia 8000 and Pave Zambia 2000 projects to improve roads, and was upgrading airports to encourage more tourists to visit the country.
He was speaking in Lusaka on Tuesday when he launched the 2016 Zambia Travel Expo (ZATEX) under the theme ‘One million tourists, one million opportunities’.
Dr Msiska said the number of participants at the 2016 ZATEX had grown by 146 per cent and foreign buyers to 87 per cent compared to 2015.
He said the Government had launched e-visa services which allowed citizens of various countries to obtain visas on arrival after obtaining the e-visa.
Dr Msiska said the changes the Government had made would create an enabling environment for growth as the country made efforts to attract potential tourists.
He said Zambia was one of the most attractive investment destinations in Africa which offered attractive tourism investment opportunities to benefit both Zambia and other countries.
He urged all foreign exhibitors to ask for investment opportunities in order to strengthen and maintain the relationships they had with Zambia.
Zambia Tourism Agency (ZTA) chief executive officer Felix Chaila said the changes in the tourism sector presented a foundation for creation of an effective tourism marketing platform for the country.
Mr Chaila said ZTA had collaborated with the private sector by holding road shows in various key source markets in order to give an opportunity to more stakeholders to be partners in tourism.
He said ZTA had strengthened its social media and e-marketing efforts in order to boost and reach the global market at minimum cost.