A Turkish tourism expert says Zambia possesses abundant tourism attractions needed to fascinate international tourists with unique experiences.
And 1,500 Zambians visited Turkey in 2019, representing a 40 percent increase compared to 2018.
Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB) Corporate Affairs Director, Gulberk Asyapar, said Zambia with its diverse tourism attractions offered all that was needed to fascinate its visitors with unique experiences.
“Zambia’s tourism products include rivers and lakes, sports tourism, cultural tourism, ecotourism, the Victoria Falls and National Parks that offer visitors the best opportunity to view the best,” Ms Gulberk said.
She was speaking during a virtual presentation to TURSAB affiliate members dubbed ‘Destination Zambia.’ The webinar was jointly organised by the Embassy of the Republic of Zambia in Turkey and the Zambia Tourism Agency (ZTA).
Ms Gulberk also said there was growing interest by Turkish tourists to visit Zambia.
“In 2019, we hosted nearly 1,500 Zambian guests with an increase of 40 percent compared to the previous year, unfortunately these numbers were much lower in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ms Gulberk said
She expressed happiness with the existing strong bilateral relations between Zambia and Turkey.
“Tourism is one of the major fields we expect high potential for growth,” Ms Gulberk said.
She also expressed concern that the COVID-19 pandemic had negatively affected the world economy.
“Unfortunately, one of the sectors that have been adversely affected is tourism, we hope the entire world will overcome this turmoil through international solidarity and promotional activities,” Ms Gulberk said.
She said TURSAB would continue working with Zambia to promote tourism and to enhance relations between the two countries.
Chargé d’Affaires at the Zambian Mission in Turkey, Stephen Mwenya said the Government of the Republic of Zambia under the leadership of President Edgar Lungu, had placed tourism high on its development agenda.
Mr Mwenya said the Zambian Government had recognised the sector as a key engine for development, economic diversification and job creation in line with the aspirations of the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP).
“For this reason, the Government has developed the Zambia Tourism Master Plan (ZTMP) aimed at realigning the sector’s vision and strategies to the national vision and to foster a systematic development of the tourism assets,” Mr Mwenya said.
He said Zambia remains a tourism destination of choice on the African continent due to abundant tourism attractions, peace, political stability and the friendly Zambian people.
Mr Mwenya was concerned that Zambia’s tourism sector, like the rest of the world, had not been spared by the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For instance, in the first half of 2020, Zambia only received 290,224 international tourists compared to 634,757 during the same period in 2019 representing a 56.3 percentage decrease. This resulted in loss of income and jobs in the tourism sector,” Mr Mwenya said.
He said in an effort to revive the sector in the short and medium term, the Zambian Government had formulated the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) for the period 2020-2023.
Mr Mwenya said the ERP was aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and to reinvigorate growth.
“In respect of tourism, the Government has provided tax relief measures and incentives to sustain the sector,” Mr Mwenya said.
He said Zambia looks forward to learning best practices from Turkey in the field of tourism and institutions like TURSAB played a vital role.
Mr Mwenya urged ZTA and TURSAB to consider establishing a predictable framework of co-operation through signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on co-operation in tourism promotion between the two countries.
“This will indeed help raise the bar of Zambia’s profile as a tourism destination of choice as well as to strengthen the existing impeccable credentials that Turkey continues to enjoy in global tourism,” Mr Mwenya said.
Turkey has grown to be A very powerful country in Europe and
Zambia can learn and benefit alot. Let zambia take advantage
Of the friendship to exploit business and go into solar energy.
Let’s get the twin negatives of Covid 19 and 2021 elections over with.The tourism numbers will rise with a new president and new government in Lusaka.
VERY TRUE ABOVE POST
So the bits of Zambia that haven’t been given away to the Chinese, we are now selling for scrap to the Turks? Yeah, you can leave that to Edgar China Lungu!
Very true unlike the lies that angry boy kondwani spreads in Turkey about Zambia
Moto – Turkey’s power is that its has the gate keys to Europe and its geo location to Russia.
Tourism sector in the country has immense potential. It can create jobs and businesses and turn around the economy.
Now the opposition surrogates will agree that whatever president Edgar Lungu did for tourism development, was not wasted. In fact, there was a great vision behind it.
The foreigners have understood the importance of our country. When will our own people, who only criticize government of doing nothing, understand it?
This is one more feather in the cap of Zambia. Last year the global community acknowledged us as the safest tourist destination in Africa during Covid19 and now the Turkish holiday makers have recognised Zambia’s potential. Good times are ahead for us!
When the leader works to achieve a goal, and has clear vision, honest intentions and dedication to the country, such are the fruits. Not when those who are only interested in their personal gains are in power.
It is not clear that who should be in State House after August. It should be LEADER ECL and not the DEALER HH
Get ready Zambia, its gonna rain jobs and business…..very soon.
Economic reforms show the results, but it takes time. One has to be patient to see the economy turning around.
There is nothing called magic in economics and finance. If anyone is promising turnarounds in flash, they are either fool or think that people are dull.
This is the tight slap on the face of those who underestimated the calibre of Zambians. Remember what HH had said about our capacities to run and manage big businesses like mines?
This is encouraging and good for mother Zambia