Mauritius hosts regional youth tourism meet

Baboki Kayawe | Friday April 3, 2015 12:11

The youth in tourism conference will take place in Pointe aux Piments. It will tackle issues like sustainable tourism development; mainstreaming tourism in the region; market access for youth operated business projects; and funding.

The Southern Africa Youth in Tourism conference is organised by the Regional Tourism Organisation of Southern Africa (RETOSA) and the Mauritian Ministry of Tourism and Leisure.

A communication from RETOSA says the youth are the emerging leaders of their communities and the conference is being hosted as a platform to facilitate the involvement of youths in sustainable development of tourism in the region. The theme of the conference is: “Promoting Sustainable Tourism Development through Involvement and Participation of the Youth”. 

Its strategic objectives are to facilitate the mainstreaming of tourism into the education systems of states in the region, escalate youth participation in the development of the region, and to use tourism as a vehicle for employment creation thereby helping in the fight against poverty.

Zimbabwe’s Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, who chairs SADC Committee of Ministers Responsible for Tourism; and UNWTO Commission for Africa (CAF), Walter Mzembzi will be the keynote speaker.

Public and private stakeholders directly involved in youth in tourism initiatives and youths involved in the tourism sector will attend the conference.

“This conference will culminate in the election of a Youth in Tourism Steering Committee which will be the driving force responsible for the implementation of the Southern Africa Youth in Tourism Action Plan to be established at the conference,” RETOSA says. 

RETOSA is the tourism-implementing agency for Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). Its primary objective is to facilitate and promote tourism growth and development in Southern Africa.

Its member states are Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.