Maravi

Namugala urges more citizen involvement in tourism sector

Namugala urges more citizen involvement in tourism sector
By Ndinawe Simpelwe
Wed 25 May 2011, 07:00 CAT

A SENIOR government official has bemoaned the low numbers of Zambians participating in the tourism sector. In an interview, tourism minister Catherine Namugala said very few Zambians were involved in tourism related businesses. Namugala said it was worrying that Zambians were not taking advantage of the growth of the tourism sector in the country.

“We have tourists coming in large numbers; this is a big opportunity for investment. These people need transport, they need accommodation and food so this is an opportunity for the country to make money,” she said.

Namugala said there was no need for Zambians to leave everything to foreign investors to enjoy the benefits of the country.

She called on Zambians to take part in tourism either as local tourists or as investors in the tourism sector.

Namugala said the problem was that Zambians were not patient enough to wait for the benefits of tourism.

She said most stakeholders lacked patience and were in a hurry to see results of their investment.

Namugala said tourism was a big industry that needed a lot of investments to sustain it.

She asked stakeholders to play an important role to ensure that tourism contributed positively to the country’s economy.

“The problem is we are impatient with ourselves. The number of Zambians in the sector is not very encouraging,” Namugala said.

She said the number of tourists visiting Zambia’s tourist spots has continued to increase, adding that this provided an opportunity for the private sector to invest in the sector.

Namugala said tourists needed to be provided with different services which the government alone could not manage to make available.

Labels: CATHERINE NAMUGALA, TOURISM

posted by MrK @ 4:17 PM