Government has dismissed media reports insinuating that Zambia is not ready to host the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly which will be co-hosted with neighbouring Zimbabwe.
Tourism and Arts Minister Sylvia Masebo clarified this in Parliament today when she delivered a ministerial statement.
Ms Masebo said Zimbabweans known how to market themselves compared to their Zambian counterparts who criticized themselves.
Ms Masebo said Zimbabwe is known to be an old tourist destination yet Zambia is endowed with more tourism sites dotted in the country besides the famous Victoria falls which is shared by Zimbabwe.
“Mr. Speaker Sir, the only difference between Zambia and Zimbabwe is that Zimbabweans are very aggressive and nationalistic while Zambian we are not patriotic. We Zambians are good at criticizing ourselves. We have so much in terms of tourism,” Ms. Masebo said.
She regretted that her Ministry had not carried out an effective sensitization campaigns but reiterated Government’s commitment to working with the media, the private sector, Members of Parliament (MPs), the lodge owners and other stakeholders to help market Zambia vigorously.
She stated that a team of experts have visited Zambia and they will continue coming to Zambia to conduct inspections to ensuring that infrastructures at the airports, hotels, boarder towns and security personnel among others meet the required international standards.
The Minister said she has been to Spanish City, Madrid at the Organisation’s headquarters and that she has on several occasions accompanied the Head of State Mr. Michael Sata abroad to among other agendas market Zambia ahead of the 20th 2013 General Assembly.
Meanwhile, parliament heard today that Government has approved K150 billion and additional K60.8 billion has been released for the preparation and co-hosting the 2013 General Assembly.
Ms Masebo challenged the private sector to show case their existence and join hands with government as the country exhibits its products to the outside world.
She told the House that Zimbabwe will host the official opening ceremony, plenary session, a luncheon for the delegates, Council general meeting among other meetings while Zambia will host the closing ceremony, Board meeting, gala dinner and round table meeting for Commissions for Asia, Europe and America.
Ms. Masebo said the two countries will host a series of meetings side by side and that a permanent Inter-ministerial Committee has been instituted.
She said Zambia and Zimbabwe signed a memorandum of understanding which among other things seeks to not only market the two countries but the entire Southern Africa region and that both countries have an opportunity to create a global village to benefit the people world-wide.
ZANIS
My foot! This minister doesn’t even know that we’re yet ready in terms of preparations. It is not just about marketing the country. What is there to market Zambia? Are we to market street vending? The curio shop president said that if we are not careful, we will be escorting Zimbabwe to the UNWTO. You lady minister, show us the facilities which are ready for the conference? Don’t show us what is on paper but what is on the ground. If all the plenary and the opening will be in Zimbabwe, it means that more people will be staying in Zim. Why didn’t you have some plenary sessions in Zambia? It is because we don’t have facilities for such meetings. We don’t even have facilities to hold the Council General meeting but just small board room facilities for board members.
In zed we’re just lazy,less diligent and less disciplined thats why we have dirty towns,disorganised street vending and an economy run by foreigners.
Joke of the day
what have you done as a govt to show that you are ready..?with these very dirty streets..?
Number one and number 2 thats exactly what she said,ask yourselves how patriotic you are.. already you have displaying your amazing dislike for Zed,it begins with a winning mind set for one to reach greatness and I therefore encourage every zedian to embrance zed as we only have one zed and one will always be. Start saying we are better!!!
You are also part of the joking club… when some thing is ready its not and i do not need to be patriotic about it. Livingstone looks like a town which has come out of world war 2. Many towns in countries which have had a war look far much better.
I have nothing to be proud about… even Zimbabwe which has undergone serious economic problems has just managed to build a modern airport in Bulawayo. VicFalls is much better than Livingstone.
Just acceot that
The first step into any healing and regrowth is to admit you have a problem.Burying your head in the sand will never make any problem go away and in any case no one ever progressed without constant re-evaluation,reinvention and renewal.If we ever believe we’re better we’ll never see any need for constant self regeneration.
what did namugala do, nothing, just talking. shame mmd, and shopping and gabbing other peoples husband
But remember, she is just a prostitute appointed to a job way above her library studies education.
But also remembe rthat prostitutes can also perform right? why else do they cause men with power cry like new born babies? ask yourself that.
she looks sweet
Zim has been under sanctions for a long time but they are well organised on their side of the border and ready to host the delegates.
Zambia is not ready and the politicl will NOT there. We need to MOVE very quickly to clean up Livingstone. The politicians have allowed street vending so difficult to clean up. Livingstone looks very behind.
#5 who told you that we’re not patriotic Zambians. We’re proud to be Zambians but we’re not happy with the way the affairs of the nation are being handled by the politicians. Tell us, are you happy that every street is a market? Should we tell lies that we’re prepared when we’re not. What is there to show on the ground that we’re prepared? We called Zim a sinking Titantic. But Zim is more better, cleaner and well ahead prepared than us. We don’t eat from govt table to be singing their praises when things are not right. We praise then when they do right but not when they do wrong such as encourage people to trade on the streets which has made our tourist capital to be more dirty.
Sorry, I meant…we praise them when they do…
She was busy making promises in Mufumbwe. Good at talking but no action.
Mu MMD emo bali, Umu emobali what do you expect from these people?
I don’t understand this. So what is the point of telling a foreigner this? Is he supposed to sympathize with Zambians who are only known for critizing themselves? What kind of cra.p is this?
Ms. Masebo should concentrate on politicking…then employ/subcontract a General Manager and his/her team with proven track-record in running such global events ie. AFCON Cup, Trade Fairs, UN Summits etc to handle operational side of things in the background (hands-on)…you will be surprised what a different set of eyes brings to the table. This is a very important event for Zambia to showcase herself to global tour-operators forget the wasteful dated UNIPist proposal about creating a National Airline to promote tourism this is a sure-fire stage for us to shine; [cont’d]
if it means employing the services of an expatriate manager please go ahead madam.. employ their services if they meet the criteria as the rewards outweigh the costs in the long term not only to Livingstone but to the tourism as a whole in the country. If it means locking out and gagging the filthy street vendors for 14 days; be my guest…they will thank you in future when the US dollars start flowing in…
We have time to make a difference and it is a unique opportunity to get ourselves better positioned within the global market. All hands on deck on this end. It is amazing what the world of volunteers can do. I’ll be back to pick up garbage instead of complaining about dirt. Gloves, mask, vehicle, disposal site. Me and the kids will sort it. Might have to bring along incentive in the form of a cultural icon or two. Come on local musicians. Beat me to that song that is needed. These old people are losing their sense of adventure :)
You demented skeptics, what do you want the minister to have said? Had she spoken to the contrary, you still were going to find some obnoxious comments to pass. Even if you hate your country, we ‘ve got to start from somewhere. Whom do you want to blame for lack of facilities in Livingstone? MMD had 20 years of rule but did only what was possible to prepare Livingstone for such an undertaking. They actually failed to host All Africa Games in 2010!
You ‘ve got to encourage your government to do more and get us experienced in hosting big events. Stupid armchair critics only see red in every effort the PF government makes. Well, we got the mandate of the people.
It’s true that a positive mindset is essential, if we are to archieve our intended goals.Criticisms shpuld be constructive andissue-based, and not on character assassination and unrespectfl insults, as we can see in some of the above comments.Fellow Zambians, let us try and promote human values of respect and post education-centred comments.Many people, including non-Zambian are reading these comments..and one wonders where this inferiority complex we exhibit comes from.Even after winning the Africa cup, we still do not trust that we can do it even in other areas.
Ms Masebo we need to stop the “we have more tourism sites” excuse coz its a sign of weakness.Its a fallacy to “have more resources” bcoz its not the resource that counts but rather its the EFFORT that counts even more.Even Tz makes that mistake of comparing their “more sites” to kenya’s but its kenya that always wins.Africa too has more resources and Japan has nada but it puts us africans to shame.I wanna hear next time that we’re most proud of our EFFORTS and less of our resources.
Actually Ms Masebo i’ve just read a very eye opening blog entry by a guy/girl calling themself Tumbuka pride.They say kenya has far less arable land,no minerals and a whole lot of unproductive nomads but in many ways they’re ahead of zambia and far more arable and bigger Tz.It goes to illustrate my point above about the importance of work or effort over and above resources.Think about that Masebo next time you open your mouth.
Thank you Mrs Masebo for paying us some compliments accross the border.If zambia is not ready then we in Zim should get the whole thing as we have better facilities and quite frankly some cleaner cities.Zambia still has some way to go in many ways.
I would appreciate suggestions of specific policy measures, laws and regulations that has made Kenya tick in tourism. Blanket comparison statements don’t make sense at all. Government officials are well travelled and are fully aware of the status quo. We have travelled and we have seen. What specifics is Kenya doing that we are not? Be Zambitious! You dimwits, come down from your lofty seats were you are pouring out hot magma to burn out every germinating idea.
If you are not part of the solution or you are not a solution provider damp your asses in whichever place you are, zip up your mouths, close your eyes to Zambia and tell your mind that there is country on earth called Zambia. That is why the President says you are out of Zed (you who think you are wiser and intelligent yet you are crying cowards) and if he appoints grade 2 fellaz don’t show surprise. The PF is bold and resolved, we make things happen. Action!
We had the Africa cup come to Zambia when we were underdogs, we are going ahead to host the Zone six Africa Sports gala in December this year, we are co-hosting the UNWTO next year! Your cowardly, faint hearted and corrupt MMD failed to host the All Africa Games in 2010! Isn’t that shameful? Now that we are in the winning mood you want to damp the efforts of Zambitious citizens? We shall pull it off wether you like or not. Got more than 90 days bangwele.
SELENI TUBOMBEKO.
MASEBO CLEAN THE STREETS AND BUILD PROPER MARKETS FOR THOSE VENDORS.HONESTLY ZAMBIA HAS BECOME THE DIRTIEST COUNTRY IN THE SOUTHERN REGION UNDER PF
only time can tell the story better. i hope there will be financial transparency in the money allocated for the conference preparation.