LUSAKA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Zambia risks losing about 400 million U.S. dollars in the tourism sector due to COVID-19, a government official said on Wednesday.
Minister of Tourism and Arts Ronald Chitotela said an assessment of the impact of COVID-19 has been conducted which has revealed that about 400 million U.S. dollars may be lost in both service and non-service sub-sectors in the sector.
He said the loss was due to cancellation of travels as well as the closure of hotels.
"Experts have done a projection and jobs are being threatened in the tourism sector," he said during a live radio program on Hot FM.
The government, he said, has not sit idle but was putting in measures to curtail the loss in the sector.
According to him, President Edgar Lungu has constituted a committee to look at the challenges in the tourism sector, and the government was considering providing incentives for the sector. Enditem