Liligo, a French search engine specialized in travel, has recently selected Zambia as the second best destination for French travelers in 2016.
The contest is product of the French travelers’ new trend of looking for new destinations, with Africa being the second most preferred destination after domestic tourism, which accounts for 70% of French tours, according to the Zambian Embassy in France.
Zambia entered the contest together with Oman and Canada after the Zambian embassy in France received the approval from the Zambia Tourism Board to allow the country to be part of Liligo’s 14-day project to select the winner.
The 14-day project involved a tourism trip by three French travel bloggers to the three destinations which in Zambia consisted in an itinerary developed by Zambia Tourism Board in cooperation with local tour operators.
The project resulted with Zambia elected as the second best destination for French travelers for next year behind Canada and ahead of Oman, announced Zambia’s Ambassador in France Humphrey Chilu Chibanda.
Zambia was approached by Liligo earlier this year to be part of the contest, due to the growing French tourist arrivals to the African country in the recent years, Ambassador Chibanda added.
According to the Zambian Embassy in France, Zambia has seen a growth of 27.37% in French tourist arrivals from 7,151 registered in 2013 to 9,108 in 2014.
In January, 2015 French tourist arrivals registered an increase of 50% compared with the same period in 2014 according to the latest statistics.
