adminand Livingstone respectively in August this year where 1 200 delegates are expected to attend.
Tourism and Hospitality Industry permanent secretary Mrs Margaret Sangarwe said the UNWTO inspectorate team would be in the country from June 26 to 29.
“The purpose of their visit is to ascertain the state of preparedness focusing mainly on the shuttle service on how people are going to be moved across the border from Victoria Falls to Livingstone in Zambia,” she said.
Mrs Sangarwe said the shuttle service would be simulated for the team to get an appreciation of the way it would be operating.
She said the team would also focus on the venue, assessing preparations that hotels have made for the event.
Turning to the general preparedness for the event, Mrs Sangarwe said everything was on course for a successful hosting of the general assembly.
“In terms of level of preparedness, I can say we are happy because in terms of accommodation all the hotels have done renovations and some are just finishing off,” she said.
She said some of the hotels had started receiving bookings for the general assembly.
Mrs Sangarwe said construction of structures to complement the actual venue, the Elephant Hills Hotel, had already started.
“The company contracted for the job has already deployed a technical team on the ground,” she said.
On transport, Mrs Sangarwe said the Government had engaged the services of CMED (Private) Limited to provide all the transport.
“We have agreed with our Zambian counterparts on what each is going to provide, thus we have agreed on the number of buses and the CMED is already working on it,” she said.
Meanwhile, among other preparatory work, the Victoria Falls Hospital has undergone a major facelift and rekitting with new equipment while the water supply system was being overhauled. Almost every road has now been resurfaced, while the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway is being widened from the Victoria Falls International Airport to the town.
In addition, the runway at the Victoria Falls International Airport is being expanded to accommodate wide-bodied aircraft while the terminal building is being extended to accommodate more passengers.
On its part, industry regulator the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority is conducting intensive training of hotel staff in the resort town, to prepare them for hosting the mega event. – New Ziana.
Online Reporter