MEMBER of Parliament for the Thaba-Phatšoa constituency under the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) banner, Thabo Maretlane, says the new administration intends to shake up the tourism sector in a bid to resuscitate Lesotho’s pitiable economy.

The newly sworn-in Member of Parliament (MP) with 22 years of experience as a tour operator was speaking after the swearing-in ceremony of legislators on Tuesday.

The businessman owns a local tourism company, T-Connexions that hosts the famous Moshoeshoe Walk.

Maretlane also operates the Thaba-Bosiu Cultural Village which has over 60 permanent workers on its payroll.

At the height of the festive seasons when there is an influx of tourists visiting the village, he employs several casual workers from the neighbouring villages.

“There is a lot of money in this sector,” he said, adding that it is disheartening to see how white people dominate the local industry.

Maretlane said there was a litany of ambiguities that frustrate the growth of the industry in the country.

“The growth of the tourism sector is throttled by many challenges,” he said.

The laws and regulations in the sector, he said, should be amended so that local tour operators could get more privileges than their counterparts from other countries.

The battlefield, he said should be levelled for all players in the sector in order to enhance all tourism opportunities.

With his extensive know-how of local tourism, Maretlane said bottlenecks are the main reason the industry fails to grow as well as it is expected to.

“Infrastructure development should be one of the first priorities so that roads are constructed to enable tourists to get around, especially to places of attraction.”