By ALICE NACHILEMBE
Ministry of Tourism and Arts Permanent Secretary Patrick Lungu has lauded the Zambia High Commission in Kenya for maintaining strong bilateral relations in tourism with Kenya and fulfilling the directive and efforts of the two Heads of State.
Mr Lungu said Zambia is looking forward to collaborating with Kenya in terms of twinning and exchange programs, and tourism best practices such as marketing strategies, recovery strategies and domestic tourism among others.
Mr Lungu made the remarks when Zambia and Kenya held a Tourism Bilateral Planning Meeting in Nairobi on the side-lines of the Africa Tourism Recovery Summit jointly hosted by the Kenyan and the Saudi Arabian Government.
The meeting was held in preparation for the Tourism Ministers Meeting scheduled for September, 2021 between Zambia and Kenya in line with the efforts demonstrated by Mr Edgar Lungu and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta.
And Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife Principal Secretary Ms Safina Kwekwe Tsungu said Kenya welcomed the response by Zambia to hold a bilateral ministerial meeting and advised that it should take place any time before December 2021.
Ms Tsungu said Kenya was positioning itself as a Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) Destination and would request Zambia to support when bidding at times, especially for mega events if Zambia is not participating.
Zambia’s High Commissioner to Kenya Joyce Kasosa said Zambia through the Nairobi Mission received three proposals from the Government of Kenya through the Kenya Utalii College to expand the bilateral relations beyond the scholarship positions.
Ms Kasosa said the initiative was also as a result of proposals by the Kenya Utalii College which were aimed at maintaining and expanding on the already existing bilateral relations in Tourism and hospitality between Zambia and Kenya which includes the fifty (50) Utalii College Scholarships awarded to Zambia in 2018.
She disclosed that the Bilateral Planning Meeting called for Twinning of the Kenya Utalii College and the Zambia Institute for Tourism and Hospitality Studies to be finalized during the Ministerial Meeting.
Ms Kasosa said the two countries agreed to support each other in areas of knowledge transfer, capacity building, creation of tourism synergies and circuits between Kenya and Zambia, joint marketing, joint research, exchange visits and best practices among others.
This is contained in a statement made available by Tourism Attaché at Zambia High Commission in Nairobi, Kenya, Kaluwe Wasamunu.
