Govt happy with local hotel standards

And the Government has said that the agriculture sector has continued registering substantial growth in both crop and livestock sub-sectors.
Deputy Minister in the Vice President’s Office, Davis Mwango said most Zambian hotels had attained international standards and met expectations of customers from any part of the world.
He said the achievements had seen the country successfully host tourists and international conferences like the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly.
Mr Mwango said this during the farmers and hotelier’s gala night in Lusaka.
He said that he was happy that through the enabling environment and good policies, Government was witnessing an expansion in the hotel industry through increased investment in hotels by both local and foreign investors.
“As Government, we are impressed by the high standards achieved by the hotel industry that match the international expectations,” Mr Mwango said.
He said the Government had taken measures to promote further development of the industry in the country.
On agriculture, Mr Mwango said the Government recognised the various challenges that the sector was facing, and it would bring more land under irrigation so that the farmers could reduce their dependence on rain-fed agriculture.
He said this would mitigate the effects of weather variances and increase the country’s food production.
Mr Mwango said to further support all-year-agriculture production, the Government had embarked on a programme to make fertiliser available all-year round.
The capital injection by Government into fertiliser production at Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ) would help to ensure that.
Hotel and Catering Association of Zambia (HCAZ) president Daniel Mweetwa said hoteliers and farmers had realised that without Government’s support, it would be impossible to have a sustained food security and satisfy customers in the hotels.
Mr Mweetwa said the availability of farm produce in the hotels made the business survive and urged the farmers to continue producing quality products.
“Our industry contributes tremendously to the national treasury through taxes. Wherever a hospitality industry is established, it triggers benefits to other sectors,” he said.