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Johannesburg, Jan 30 (I-Net Bridge) - South Africa's Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk is in India on a two day visit to promote SA as a tourism destination and highlight the potential and importance of India as a source market for tourism to SA.
Addressing trade partners, Van Schalkwyk noted that the number of Indian tourists travelling from India to SA has steadily increased by over 122% between 2005 and 2010 and SA is continuing to attract Indian tourists in great numbers.
Some 67,039 Indian tourists travelled to SA between January and September 2011, 29% more than over the same period in 2010.
He also noted that SA's events and lifestyle offerings had struck a chord with the Indian traveller who is eager to experience a unique and varied destination with a wide range of choices to suit every budget.
"The importance of India as a source market for South Africa cannot be underscored as India is an emerging travel market with massive growth potential. India's economic growth is also expected to continue over the next 40 years and by 2050, India is expected to be among the top-three global economies," he said.
"Three years ago, South African Tourism identified India as a core market and we are currently capacitated with a fully operational office in India. India is ranked 7th in overseas top 20 source markets for South African Tourism. Rising incomes, changing attitudes and a desire to travel abroad, increase demand for outbound travel," he said.
Since 2005, South African Tourism (SAT) has been promoting the destination very successfully in India. They have focused on film, fashion, sport and food & wine. They have also aligned their strategy to leverage events in SA and India effectively through workshops, familiarisation trips and various other exciting initiatives.
Air connectivity between the two countries is also good, with South African Airways operating four frequencies a week, while Jet Airways operates five times a week. There are also daily flights from eight different cities via Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways.
SA recently won the bid to host the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) Convention which attracts an average of 1,000 delegates, excluding accompanying parties. The conference serves as a platform for professional development, tourism information and intelligence exchange as well as a super familiarization trip where delegates get to explore the tourism potential and attractions of the hosting region. This will be held in KwaZulu-Natal in November this year.
The TAFI Convention is a major milestone and the first of landmark events following the alliance formed between TAFI and SATSA, and it will give the Indian Travel fraternity great exposure to South Africa. South Africa is also bidding to host the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) Convention in 2013.
SAT is also intensifying its marketing efforts and investment in the Indian operation and through road shows work with the Indian trade. SAT is currently in the process of training over 1,000 Indian travel agents and tour operators this year to ensure they have the necessary skills and experience to sell SA.
Over the years the road show has grown in numbers and size, the 3City road show in 2011 showcased 31 suppliers from SA who interacted with 700 representatives in India while the 2012 road show will feature 61 SA products with more than 1,000 Indian travel agents attending across five cities.
