…..Zambia was ably represented
Berlin, 11.03.2019
Ambassador to Germany, His Excellency Anthony Mukwita has described as a success Zambia’s participation at the just ended 2019 Berlin-based global international tourism faire popularly known by its acronym ITB.
Ambassador Mukwita said he interacted extensively with both the Zambia Tourism Agency, ZTA, officials led by Chief Executive Officer Felix Chaila and tour operators at the stand.
“They all reported significant satisfaction with the quality of engagements they had with visitors to the Zambia stand”, said Mr. Mukwita.
The Zambian envoy observed that satisfaction levels among tour operators have shot up significantly from last year when the country participated as Convention and Culture partner – a position that increased Zambia’s visibility on the world stage.
When Zambia’s Minister of Tourism and Arts Mr. Charles Banda attended ITB last year, he emphasized the need for visibility of the country at the faire so that more and more tourists may be persuaded to visit and invest in the hospitality sector.
For the past 30 years, Zambia has been a regular participant at the faire as part of efforts to keep the country’s tourism destinations known to the world. Increasingly, tour operators and other players in the hospitality industry in Zambia have been embracing a variety of means to attract visitors.
ZTA CEO Chaila observed that more and more Zambian hotels and other tour operators are now available on most international search engines as Booking.com and Expedia.
“The use of these globally well-known brand names in online booking promises to ease international travel into Zambia”, observes Mr. Chaila.
The ZTA CEO said lately his organization has embraced and continues to embrace more online platforms to increase Zambia’s visibility on the world market. He noted that most global travelers use search engines and online-based platforms to learn about holiday destinations hence the need for ZTA to aggressively pursue modern technologies to aid in the growth of the tourism sector.
The ZTA team at the 2019 ITB included Doris Kofi, Senior Marketing Manager, Betty Mumba, Public Relations Manager and Kunda Mulenga, Digital Marketing Officer.
The team was complemented by the Zambian embassy led by Ambassador Mukwita and First Secretary – Tourism, Susan Katema.
Ambassador Mukwita said the embassy would soon release tourism entry figures for Zambia for the past year or to to back the success claim.
Zambia remains a highly favoured destination due to stability and peace, apart from having some of the most dazzling destinations in Africa.
In 2018 under the push for tourism, Zambia for the first time became the prestigious Culture and Convention partner.
President Edgar Lungu is encouraging economic diversification through avenues such as tourism and agriculture.