Government has disputed some media reports suggesting that the Department of tourism in the Ministry of Tourism and Arts has been shut down.
Ministry of Tourism and Arts Permanent Secretary George Zulu said the department will not at any point shut down and will continue functioning normally.
Mr. Zulu accused those spreading such reports of trying to tarnish the image of the ministry of Tourism and Arts.
He explained in an interview that most of the officers had travelled to Livingstone for the UNTWO conference but that they are back and will continue with their normal duties.
Mr. Zulu was reacting to reports that the department of Tourism has been shut down and all the staff sent on forced leave to pave way for the Anti-Corruption Commission to conduct investigations regarding some UNWTO contracts that were dubiously awarded.
How much revenue does this dept/ministry bring into the country? if we had qualified individuals in this ministry, ZED could be making tons of money from tourism alone. unfortunately, we have too many people who are most interested in photo-ops, than anything else.
The statement below from the named Mr Zulu is just the tip of the iceberg and one wonders what their ‘normal duties’ are.
‘He explained in an interview that most of the officers had travelled to Livingstone for the UNTWO conference but that they are back and will continue with their normal duties.’
Ask an average zedian, what tourist places they have been to, and the answer will resoundingly be ‘NONE’ so these so called officers fail terribly at their most basic duty – selling tourism to locals, let alone…
really: the question u ask is one-sided. the dept can be asked how much they bring in of course. the real question is how much are they given to market the country. the bottom line about tourism is promoting the country on global television and other fora and that budget alone in a year is major millions of dollars.
so before we ask what they bring in, can we know how much they have pumped into them by the tresuary
outsiders. so annoying —