South African Tourism has planned a host of activities to revive the growth from the Indian market. The tourism board kickstarted a series of roadshows in India beginning with New Delhi on Monday (March 7).
The other cities where South African Tourism has travelled for its roadshows include Ahmedabad (March 8), Bengaluru (March 9) and Mumbai (March 10-11). Thirty-five suppliers from South Africa have participated in the series of roadshows showcasing popular and new tourism experiences.
The tourism board is engaging with airline partners like Air Seychelles, Ethiopian Airlines, Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways for joint promotions. The trade engagements come on the back of the tourism board launching its ‘More & More’ campaign in the Indian market last month.
Localized for Indian audiences, this campaign showcases vast tourism experiences available in the Rainbow nation ranging from 3000 plus adventure activities to exciting culinary experiences. The campaign that will last till the end of this month has been rolled out through outdoor and social media advertising.
“We want to reignite, reengage and trigger the travel demand in India through our trade and consumer activities. We are talking to our airline partners at present to introduce special airfares for the Indian market. The importance of the Indian market for us can be gauged by the fact that the biggest consumers of our adventure activities are Indian travellers,” said Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head, MEISEA, South African Tourism.
“Our target audience for the next 18 months includes millennials, FITs, families, honeymooners and MICE. There has been a growing demand that we are seeing from the corporate market. In fact, if it wasn’t for Covid, I believe that MICE would have taken over from the leisure segment in terms of tourist arrivals from India,” she added.
At present 28 per cent of Indian visitors to South Africa are MICE travellers. The destination has a number of MICE groups travelling to South Africa in the coming months including an 800 pax strong movement from a pharmaceutical company.
The tourism board expects the upcoming e-visa facility and direct connectivity to be a game-changer for the demand from the Indian market. South Africa is introducing e-visa facility in 14 countries including India. The system is being tested at present.
While consolidating its position in wildlife, adventure and cultural offerings, the destination will also target the niche film tourism market, for which South African Tourism has seen an upswing in enquiries and destination shoots. In order to arrive at this, the destination is engaging aggressively with production houses and OTT platforms.
To supplement recovery efforts and bring the destination alive by introducing the sights, sounds and tastes of South Africa to Indian consumers and corporates, the tourism board is also hosting several experiential events in Mumbai and Delhi immediately following the roadshows.
With performances by South African dance troupes, indigenous music, delectable food cooked by South African chefs and various culturally immersive activities, destination South Africa is all set to engage and delight Indian audiences. South African Tourism is also hosting a networking evening for travel trade partners in Mumbai.
Well-timed with the easing of international travel restrictions in India, these strategic efforts are expected to increase summer outbound traffic to South Africa and contribute to the recovery of the tourism sectors in both countries
The tourism board along with its High Commission in New Delhi is in talks with airlines like Air India, Vistara, IndiGo and South African airways to begin direct flights between the two countries.
“We are looking at New Delhi-Johannesburg and Mumbai-Johannesburg routes for direct connections. The Indian carrier IndiGo which is keen to fly to Africa is leading in interest to operate direct flights between the two nations,” said Sibusiso Ndebele, High Commissioner of South Africa to India.
The tourism board is expecting 64% increase in Indian visitors in 2022. Last year about 20,000 Indians travelled to South Africa.
Photo Caption: From (L-R) : Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head, MEISEA, South African Tourism along with Sibusiso Ndebele, High Commissioner of South Africa