아프리카는 우리에게 아직 미지의 세계이다. Long Haul Destination으로 일컬어지는 곳으로 16시간 이상의 비행시간을 요구하는 곳으로 상대적으로 비싼 여행경비와 긴 여정으로 쉽게 엄두를 내지 못하는 곳이다.
그러나 아프리카는 여행을 좋아하고 세계 각국의 문화와 자연 그리고 역사 유산을 찾는 사람들이라면 결코 놓칠 수 없는 관광목적지이다.
잠비아는 세계 3대 폭포 중의 하나로 알려진 빅토리아폭포가 위치한 곳이며 이외에도 많은 관광자원을 보유한 곳으로 아프리카 인근 국가를 여행하면서 방문의 기회를 호시탐탐 노려왔던 곳이다.
관광산업을 통한 경제발전과 폭넓은 인적교류를 꿈꾸는 아프리카 국가들은 나름대로 계획을 수립하고 한국관광시장에 자신들의 우수한 관광자원 알리기에 여념이 없다.
최근 주한 잠비아대사관은 잠비아관광설명회를 개최하고 한국관광시장에 잠비아 알리기에 나섰다.
주한잠비아대사관 ‘뭄바 카품파’대사를 만나 잠비아에 대한 소개와 앞으로의 계획에 대해 말씀을 들어보았다.
Excellency, please introduce Zambia as a whole;
Ambassador: It will be my great pleasure to have this opportunity to introduce Zambia to Korean Travelers. Zambia lies in the heart of Southern Africa, 8 to 18 degrees south of the equator and is bordered by eight countries. Zambia hosts 15 million friendly people with over 70 dialects with the official language is being English. Zambia is constitutionally a Christian nation.
It is accessed by 3 international airports namely the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka which is the capital of Zambia, the Harry Mwanga Nkumbula Airport in Livingstone which is the tourist capital of Zambia and Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport in Ndola. Zambia also has an expanding road network through it and from the surrounding countries.
Zambia is what we refer to now as land linked and is surrounded by 8 neighbors making it an ideal regional hub.
Excellency, Zambia seems to offer a lot to foreign tourists, let us have the information on Zambia as a Tourist Destination.
Ambassador: Blessed with breathtaking natural wonders, an abundance of wildlife and acknowledged as the safest country in Africa, Zambia possesses a treasury of tourism attractions waiting to be explored. Under the slogan “Zambia, Let’s Explore”, the Government plans to boost the tourism sector as one of the priority sectors to fulfill the goal of economic diversification.
The Zambian tourism offer lies in its diversity, whose features include the world famous Victoria Falls – which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, vast wildlife resources, varied scenery, wilderness, diverse culture and national heritage, good weather, adventure activities and warm and friendly people.
The Victoria Falls is the biggest and most renowned waterfalls in Zambia. It is almost 2kms wide and 103 meters deep. We also have the Kalambo, Ntumbachusi and Chishimba waterfalls that are in the Northern Tourism Circuit of Zambia and equally just as breathtaking.
There are 20 National Parks and 36 Game Management Areas covering 33% of the country’s total land mass. Although much of the tourism activities are concentrated in a limited number of national parks, such as the South Luangwa, Kafue, Lower Zambezi, Musi-o-Tunya and Kasanka, the rest of the parks provide considerable potential for future tourism development.
For those seeking adventure packed activity holidays, Zambia has several recreational activities to be enjoyed such as bungee jumping off the Victoria Falls Bridge, elephant back safaris, white water rafting and walking safaris.
Zambia’s wilderness is characterized by the vastness of unexploited areas, such as the wetlands in the Bangweulu and Kafue flood plains.
Furthermore, Zambia has 73 tribes with diverse cultural traditions which include a variety of annual traditional ceremonies such as the Kuomboka, N’cwala and Mutomboko. There are over 30 traditional ceremonies that occur annually in different parts of the country. Each ceremony celebrates the significance of natural cycles and age old traditions. These traditional ceremonies provide a valuable insight into Zambian culture which has been passed from generation to generation.
Excellency, Please tell us your Tourism Marketing Strategy toward Korean Market which is one of the rising countries in World Tourism Industry.
Ambassador: Zambia is a fairly new tourist destination to most Korean travelers and little is known about what tourist attractions Zambia has to offer and Zambia as a whole. The Embassy has a First Secretary Tourism whose mandate is to market Zambian Tourism in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Arts, Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Zambia, The Zambia Tourism Agency and the Zambia Development Agency.
As the first step in laying our marketing framework, interacting with Korean tour operators and the media has been identified as key in order to start the process of linking them with stakeholders in the Zambian tourism sector. The Embassy recently hosted a Tourism Networking Meeting. At the meeting, a presentation on Zambia and tourism videos was made using the Zambia Tourism Agency marketing collateral and also materials from individual stakeholders in the Zambia tourism sector. The Embassy intends to extend these meeting to include cultural associations and university students.
In 2016 and onwards, the Embassy intends to be more visible at international travel shows that are hosted in Korea such as the Korea World Travel Fair, Busan International Travel Fair and the Gyeonggi International Travel Mart.
The Embassy has also extended an invitation to Korea tour operators to participate in the Zambia Travel Expo (ZATEX) 2016 that is taking place from 2ndJune–4thJune2016.
This will be an opportunity for the operators to see and experience firsthand what the tourism sector in Zambia has to offer.
Zambian Embassy is always on hand to recommend various activities and sites in Zambia.
The larger picture sees the Embassy targeting more than the tourists but also investors in the tourism sector which was recently revealed as one of the top 3 fastest growing tourism destinations in the world by the UNWTO Secretary General.
카품파대사는 짙은 감색 양복에 정열적인 붉은 타이를 맨 멋진 차림으로 인터뷰에 임했다. 매력적인 풍모를 지닌 분이다. 풍부한 유머와 활력 넘치는 언변으로 잠비아관광 발전에 대한 열의를 보였다.
잠비아정부는 2014년 6월 23일 한국에 대사관을 개설했으며 카품파 대사는 초대 상주대사이다. 2014년 대사관 개설과 함께 한국에 부임한 대사는 한국생활에 지극히 만족하고 있으며 한국의 놀라운 경제발전과정을 배우고 있다고 밝혔다.
인터뷰에 배석한 일등서기관 ‘Nthemba k Minja’와 ‘오송’담당관은 앞으로 잠비아 관광발전을 위한 노력에 여행업계와 관계자들의 많은 성원과 협조를 부탁했으며 관광교류를 통해 잠비아의 경제발전과 한국 잠비아 양국의 관계가 더욱 발전하기를 바란다고 전했다.
