By Daniel Chigundu
MINISTRY of Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry says it is going to meet with Zambia next week (23 to 24 September 2018) in Victoria Falls under the Joint Tourism Technical Committee (JTTC).
The JTTC discussion will be around areas of joint tourism promotion, product development, tourism investment and collaboration in training of personnel among other things.
Zimbabwe and Zambia have many things in common, including sharing of the Victoria Falls, the Victoria Falls Bridge and people.
The two countries also have a Univisa facility that was resurrected in 2017 where tourists only need one visa to visit the two countries.
In a statement Minister Prisca Mupfumira said the two countries have reached a point of no return in their resolve to reintegrate.
“The Ministry will be hosting the 1st Join Tourism Technical Committee (JTTC) meeting with Zambia from 23 to 24 September 2018 in Victoria Falls.
“The Memorandum of Understanding in the field of tourism which was signed between our two countries can be used as a tool for tourism development and poverty alleviation. Indeed, we have reached a point of no return in our resolve to reintegrate our co-operation and there is no doubt that we can move from here, determined to make a difference to the bilateral relations between our two countries and our peoples.
“The JTTC discussion will cover areas of tourism co-operation, including joint tourism promotion, promotion of cultural heritage sites and sustainable handcraft production and preservation, classification and standardisation of tourism products and facilities, product development, sustainable tourism development, tourism investment and collaboration in training of tourism personnel and capacity building,” she said.
The Minister added that the engagement is a strong statement that the relation of the two countries is poised to develop further.
“The sheer breadth of our engagements is testimony that our relations have greatly diversified with the passage of time and are poised to develop further in an all-round manner, JTTC discussions. I have no doubt that the Zimbabwe-Zambia relations are poised to fully take advantage of the opportunities open before us,” she said.
