Zimbabwe and Zambia will co-host the UNWTO annual general assembly scheduled for August in Victoria Falls. Biti told the media this week government had disbursed a total of $750,000 to the Ministry of Tourism to facilitate publicity and had cleared outstanding debts with stakeholders to unlock more resources for the event.
“We paid $27 million to China for the arrears we had and this will unlock more resources which will go towards completion of the Victoria Falls runway,” he said.
“The hotels that were owed by COPAC were saying they could not renovate their facilities because they did not have money, so we cleared that $1,4 million debt. A fibre optic link connecting Bulawayo and Victoria falls will be installed at a cost of $7,9 million,” Biti said. He said the facility for the opening ceremony, which would accommodate 2,000 guests, was in place but additional conferencing facilities were needed.
The general assembly will provide Zimbabwe an opportunity to market itself to more than 4,000 delegates from 158 countries expected to attend the event.
Post published in: News