By ANDREW MUKOMA
THE Livingstone Tourism Association (LTA) has protested the new COVID-19 restrictions particularly the 10 days quarantine for tourists coming in the country which the Zambian government announced last week.
The association says that the pronouncements which were made by Health Minister Silvia Masebo will affect the welfare of the country’s tourist capital.
LTA Board Chairman Hilary Kanshempa has charged that the tourism industry remains one of the most affected industries since the COVID 19 virus hit the country.
Mr Kanshempa has noted that the newly pronounced measures will only worsen things for the tourism industry especially in Livingstone.
“The industry defied most business principles and replaced them with hope and determination. The situation for the industry can only be described as an uncertainty and loss of revenue characterized the industry in the last two years,” he said.
He told the Daily Nation that the recovery process has been extremely slow and sometimes progress dragged by both avoidable and non-avoidable circumstances.
The LTA Board Chairman said, the tourism industry remains fragile and a steady approach is required at all times.
“Currently, the industry’s recovery will place a heavy emphasis on policy, pronouncement and general government interventions. The sector is disturbed by the latest governments pronouncements that have a direct effect on travelers coming in and out of our country, and general running of the business,” Mr Kashempa said.
“Such harsh measures or pronouncements were once made before in the last year and had disastrous effects on the industry. We hoped that the lessons were learnt and we did not need to rush into such measures,” he said
“The idea of clients having to go through a 10 day quarantine period only means that international travelers are discouraged. No traveler will be interested to quarantine for 10days before proceeding.
The industry needs a strong presence of international travelers to recover. This is also true for the domestic market,” hr said.
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