Cabinet approves principles to amend Tourism Act

CABINET has approved principles to amend the Tourism Act to align it with the country’s Constitution and remove sections that conflict with the Public Entities and Corporate Governance Act.

Speaking during a post-Cabinet briefing on Tuesday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the proposed provisions seek to ensure Zimbabwean people benefit from the local tourism resources.

“Cabinet considered and approved the principles to amend the Tourism Act, 1996 [Chapter 14:20], which was presented by the Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry.

“The nation is advised that the Tourism Amendment Bill will seek to align the Tourism Act to the Constitution, and to remove any sections that conflict the Public Entities and Corporate Governance Act,” she said.

Minister Mutsvangwa added the Amendment Bill will further broaden the scope of tourism to include sustainable tourism and universal access to tourism for both locals and international visitors.

The tourism sector is one of the key economic pillars in the country and is regarded as a low-hanging fruit.

Meanwhile, the Government has also announced the intent to amend the Parks and Wildlife Act to align it with the changing needs of the country.

The Minister of Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Mangaliso Ndlovu, is on record saying the change in society and the increase in human population had seen the emergence of differentiated needs of wildlife resources such as tourism, leather industry, transport industry, manufacturing industry, electricity generation and agriculture.

The Parks and Wildlife Act was last amended in 2007. In view of the National Development Strategy 1, protected areas are a hallmark of Zimbabwe conservation efforts.

It is in this context that it is believed that improving their status will assist Zimbabwe in attaining an upper middle-income economy by 2030.

Zimbabwe has the second largest population of elephants in the world, the estimated 83 000 elephants are against the much lower carrying capacity, which is being influenced by a number of other socio-economic factors such as human population increase, climate change, land use change and others.-chroice.cl.zw