ZTA orders hotels to stock only The Herald

Sources in the industry told The Zimbabwean last week that the national tourism regulatory authority issued the directive a month ago barring hoteliers from providing hotel guests any other newspaper except the propaganda-infested Herald.
Hotels have also been asked to make sure that guests should access the discredited Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation (ZBC) reception in their rooms.
ZTA does not allow us to give guests, especially foreign ones, any newspaper except the Herald. I am sorry the hotel is not allowed to provide its guests with independent newspapers. If you want these newspapers you can buy for yourself, said a receptionist at a Harare Hotel when asked by this reporter why the hotel was only giving its clients The Herald.
What hotels should know is that we are not getting these newspapers free of charge. Its part of a guests package. I have never read the Herald for the past 10 years and why should I be forced to read a paper to which I do not subscribe to just because I am booked at a hotel. Thats unfair, said Elijah Mamvura, a political activist from Mutare. ZTA officials could not be reached for comment.