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The 19th Session
of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation officially opened in South
Korea yesterday with lobbying to host the 2013 general assembly reaching fever
pitch between Zimbabwe/Zambia, Russia and Qatar.
The
decision on which country will host the assembly will be made on Thursday night
and announced on Friday.
Zimbabwe is using its muscle
as a member of the executive council of the UNWTO and its chairmanship of the
Regional Tourism Organisation of Southern Africa and the unmatched beauty of
the Victoria Falls to win the bid.
The teeming verdant jungles
surrounding Zimbabwe and Zambia and the roaming wildlife in the Kavango Delta
are incomparable to the concrete jungles of Russia and the desert in Qatar.
The Zimbabwe/Zambia
co-hosting bid seems to have a slight edge over the others after UNWTO Secretary
General, Taleb Rufai indicated that it was Africa's time.
No other African country has
made a bid to host the general assembly. At the official opening ceremony,
there was intense lobbying between Qatar and Russia, while Zimbabwe seemed to
have the whole of Africa rallying behind it.
Tourism and Hospitality
Industry Minister Walter Mzembi, who is leading the Zimbabwe delegation, had
earlier yesterday appealed to African states to support the Zambia/Zimbabwe bid
to co-host the 2013 general assembly in Victoria Falls.
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