Confusion dogs UN tourism conference

via Confusion dogs UN tourism conference | SW Radio Africa by Alex Bell

The UN tourism conference that was officially opened on Sunday night has been dogged by confusion, with many delegates waiting hours just to get accredited, among other issues.

Hundreds of delegates from around the world have descended on Victoria Falls for the six day UN tourism General Assembly.

But while the event is being lauded for being the ‘best attended’ tourism conference yet, there have been serious issues.

The main problems have been linked to accreditation, with diplomats, entertainers and journalists all reporting having trouble. Some delegates from Zambia, Angola and Tanzania said they had to wait for more than three hours in long queues before they were accredited.

Local and foreign journalists also expressed concerns over the accreditation process. Joseph Mwamba, a Zambian journalist, has been quoted as saying that “it is confusion all over.”

“The security staff is not co-operative at all. This is being worsened by some police officers who are harassing and intimidating the delegates instead of assisting them,” Mwamba said.

At the same time, according to reports, delegates were also battling with local transport issues. On Sunday night some delegates who were invited to a ‘bush party’ outside Victoria Falls were unable to secure transport because there were no cars and no petrol. Meanwhile three buses transporting the delegates got lost, with local drivers not knowing where to find the dinner event.