TBM Staff - Mumbai Commemorating the 30-year milestone of bilateral relations between India and South Africa, the South African High Commissioner to India hosted a 30-member trade delegation from India at Africa’s Travel Indaba 2023.
The trade partners were hosted by several provinces for adventures as well as carefully curated seminars to highlight niche offerings and address increased interest for newer regions. Such keynotes are useful for trade partners to align their focus in line with the tourism board’s vision and invent new ideas to promote the destination and its regions better. Post returning from their brief voyage, a few trade partners shared their experience and focus to promote South Africa’s newer regions to Indian travellers.
Rajat Goswami, Director – Holiday Category and Revenue, MakeMyTrip, says, “Africa’s Travel Indaba exceeds my expectations in all aspects, and it appears that African tour operators are eager and prepared to welcome Indian guests. KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga are two new provinces we would like to promote to Indian travellers through our product offerings. There are two prominent consumer segments for us i.e., couples and families with kids. These will be our key target segments for scenic road trips, family adventures and wildlife tours in South Africa”.
Sharing her views, Renuka Natu – Founder and Director, Africa with Renuka, says, “The standard of exhibitors at Africa’s Travel Indaba 2023 was exceptional and the fact that several high-end operators were part of the event has reconfirmed my belief that Indaba is indeed the most level playing field for travel networking in the African continent. We strive to promote KwaZulu-Natal to travellers wanting to visit South Africa. The scenic beauty, the magnificent rock patterns, the symphony of birds, and the sense of calm make KwaZulu-Natal a potential destination for Indian travellers. Additionally, activities like City-life, History, Arts & Culture, Sports, Casinos, Golf, Beaches, Wildlife, Mountains, Spa, Shopping, Safe nightlife, and much more can be experienced within a radius of 250 KMs of its capital city – Durban.”
“The experience of visiting Africa’s Travel Indaba 2023 and meeting with fellow trade partners was beyond outstanding. Being exposed to newer regions such as KwaZulu-Natal was astonishing, a destination which hasn’t been promoted much in the past 14 years. Such events generally unveil new offerings and encourage us to promote these newer regions. We look forward to reaching out to our clientele of HNIs and experiential travellers from India to recommend the region as a must-visit,” added Sunil Bijlani, CEO, Vacation World.
“Africa’s Travel Indaba is undoubtedly a great event to attend and serves as an opportunity to meet with various DMCs and resort operators. The experience has been enriching and made me aware of the knowledge of regions and provinces that I wasn’t educated about. Thus far, we have been confined to promoting Northwest province as it has been a popular destination amongst our clients, however, I have realized that South Africa has much more to offer and hosts incredible choices and adventures from other provinces as well”, mentioned Sudhir Tuli, Managing Director, DTRAVCO
Tushar Jain, Managing Director, BTC Tours & Travels Pvt Ltd, says, “Africa’s Travel Indaba 2023 was a grand showcase of the region’s tourism products. Moreover, the event provided immense networking opportunities with African DMC’s, hotels, lodges, airlines and technology providers. Post this visit, I will try to include Western Cape, Limpopo, KwaZulu- Natal in my itineraries along with some exciting accommodations, lodges, wildlife and adventure activities in these provinces.”
