Kahini Chakraborty – Mumbai
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Mato Shimabale
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Zambia Tourism Board is looking at doubling the number of tourist arrivals from the India market over the next three years. For the same, the board is promoting its holiday, leisure and MICE tourism product offerings in the India market. Presently, the destination receives about 15,000- 20,000 Indian arrivals per year mainly for business. Speaking to Express TravelWorld, Mato Shimabale, director marketing, Zambia Tourism Board said, “Zambia has a diverse product offer – wildlife safari, adventure, honeymooners, MICE and so on. Zambia is home to the only natural wonder of the world found in Africa – the Victoria Falls. The destination also has abundant wildlife, we have the famous South Luangwa National Park in Eastern Zambia. There is also the Devil’s pool near the tip of the Victoria Falls giving you a unique vantage view of the Falls. We are working with Blue Square Consultants to intensify our marketing activities in India.”
Talking about the India market potential for Zambia, Shimabale opined, “India is a very important market for us as it has always been among our top 10 arrivals mainly for business and we are looking to increase the number of arrivals for the leisure and holiday segment. With the increase in the middle class as the Indian economy has improved significantly, the UNWTO has rated the Indian market as one that is bound to be a major outbound nation in the coming years. Therefore, any country that is serious about promoting tourism cannot afford to ignore India. It is for this reason that Zambia is keen to step up our marketing activities as we have no doubt that the Indian traveller would love their stay in Zambia.”
Elaborating on its marketing strategies in the India market he added, “The Indian traveller is looking for an unexplored destination and Zambia fits that profile but we realise that there is less information about the destination. Therefore, the key strategy is to increase the top of mind awareness that Zambia is a standalone destination in its own right. It is the face of the new Africa; safe and an oasis of peace coupled with having one of the fastest growing economies in the world. So our strategy focuses on educating the travel trade on what Zambia has to offer and also educating the Indian traveller. This will be done through various marketing activities ranging from participating in travel trade shows, we have also done spot adverts, online training, educational tours and road shows.”
