Lusaka Times|Zambian President EDGAR LUNGU has opened the Victoria falls to the public which was closed due to the outbreak of Covid 19 pandemic.

President LUNGU says he wants key sectors of the economy running whilst observing the new normal of following Covid 19 health guidelines.

The President also said government will give incentives to sectors such as tourism in order to help it grow and sustain the available jobs.

He said the minister of finance will be briefed on which reliefs to give to the tourism sector.

President LUNGU also toured some hotels in Livingstone in order to appreciated the challenges faced by the sector.

The head of state was briefed that hotels in Livingstone were incurring losses because there are no tourists to book rooms and other facilities.

Later the head of state had his lunch at Chrisma Hotel restaurant where social-distancing was observed.

President LUNGU said he decided to have lunch at a restaurant in oder to show his support to the hospitality industry which has been hardly hit by the pandemic.

And tourism minister Ronald Chitotela says the President’s decision to open up the sector will help save many jobs.

Mr Chitotela assured President Lungu that the sector will adhere to the new normal.

Meanwhile Livingstone tourism Council representative Rodney Sikumba says the council is grateful to government for responding to their request of opening up the tourism sector.