Zimbabwe's tourism sector has been urged to fully utilize information and communication technologies (ICTs) to advance the sector and benefit the country's economy.

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Science and Technology Development Vincent Hungwe said most companies in the sector were failing to keep pace with technological advances, The Herald reported on Monday.

Technologically advanced institutions in the tourism sector are now conducting most of their business such as advertising, flight and hotel bookings on-line, he said.

"The tourism industry has become so dependent on ICTs and this industry has to ensure that it keeps abreast with these new developments," the secretary said during the concluded International Travel Expo in Harare.

ICTs are a powerful tool in this industry for monitoring, forecasting, location identification, online payments, information gathering and management, he said.

In the wake of the adverse publicity about Zimbabwe, the sector could use the Internet to effectively market the country and correctly inform the world about the situation, Hungwe said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2006)