Thu, 08 Dec 2016 10:57:51 +0000
By Mailesi Banda
THE private sector must compliment Government efforts if the tourism industry is to attain much anticipated growth, former Tourism Minister Patrick Kalifungwa has said. Commenting on the national budget allocation to the tourism sector, Professor Kalifungwa said the money was not enough. “The money allocated to the tourism sector in the 2017 national budget is not enough, if anything we need about 15 to 20% and the Budget has not met that threshold, hence the need for the private sector to complement Government efforts,” Prof. Kalifungwa said. The Vice Chancellor of Livingstone International University of Tourism Excellence and Business Management, Prof. Kalifungwa stated that instead of the private sector marketing individual products internationally, it would make economic sense if those involved in the tourism industry marketed Zambia as a tourist destination. “We usually do not have enough money pumped into the marketing and promotion of the products the country has to offer while the private sector advertise their individual products on the same platform. “There is still a lot of work needed in growing tourism to ensure that the sector contributes to the economic growth of the country and top on the list is infrastructure development. Most roads that lead to tourism sites are in a deplorable state,” he said. Prof. Kalifungwa said the private sector should be committed to the industry to ensure growth as this would in turn benefit their respective businesses. “I would like the private sector to complement Government efforts by putting money into the pool to ensure that the country is adequately marketed,” he said. He added that dialogue among stakeholders in the industry would improve the sector and the country would increase the number of tourists visiting the country. ‘’We need more money and more efforts by the private sector to complement Government efforts as the country currently has no money to meet the expectations of the sector,’’ he said. However, he appealed to Government to consider increasing the allocation to the sector in the next budget as it could contribute positively to the growth of the country’s economy.
