DRMumbai: South African Tourism ushered in the new year with its biggest travel trade initiative in India – the 17th edition of their Annual Roadshow. The roadshow intends to capitalize on the strong potential consumer demand in India in order to surpass the target of 100,000 Indian visitors to South Africa in the current year.
Unveils evolved brand strategy for 2020 | Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore continue to be top markets contributing footfalls for South African Tourism | Average length of stay saw a YoY increase of 8 per cent in the first half of 2019 | 1 in 4 Indian arrivals in 2019 were for MICE | Pune continues to be one of the fastest emerging source markets for South African Tourism in India
“India continues to remain one of our key focus markets globally and it is encouraging to observe consistent, upward growth from traditional regions like Mumbai, Delhi & Bangalore as well as rising visitor traffic from emerging cities like Pune. With more and more visitors citing South Africa’s scenic natural beauty as reasons to visit, we are focused in our efforts towards opening up newer geographies in our country. This will serve a dual objective of catering to this very consumer demand as well as offering a diversity of itinerary options for our trade partners to sell,” said Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head, MEISEA, South African Tourism.
Mumbai continues to be the leading source market for South African Tourism in India. Between January to June 2019, around 43 per cent of total Indian visitors to the Rainbow Nation were from Mumbai. 62% visitors from Mumbai travelled solo, while 13 per cent travelled with their partners. According to market research conducted by the tourism board, travellers from Mumbai make the trip to South Africa to soak in scenic beauty (50%), engage with locals (29%), explore wildlife offerings (27%), culture and history (21%) while also immersing themselves and making the best of the diversity of experiences (27%) offered by the Rainbow Nation. Leisure travel (29%) is the primary reason for visitors from Mumbai to travel to the destination. MICE (22%), business travel (25%) and VFR (10%) closely follow suit. The holiday periods of May, April and December were preferred travel months amongst Mumbaikars for their South Africa trips.
Delhi continues to be the second leading source market for South African Tourism in India. Between January to June 2019, around 21% of total Indian visitors to the Rainbow Nation were from Delhi. 40% visitors from Delhi travelled solo, while 26% travelled with their partners. According to market research conducted by the tourism board, travellers from Delhi make the trip to South Africa to soak in scenic beauty (22%), engage with warm locals (13%), explore wildlife offerings (13%), culture and history (8%) while also immersing themselves and making the best of the diversity of experiences (13%) offered by the Rainbow Nation. Leisure travel (35%) is the primary reason for visitors from Delhi to travel to the destination. MICE (30%), business travel (13%) and VFR (14%) closely follow suit. The summer and winter holiday periods of April, May and December emerged as preferred travel months amongst Delhiites for their South Africa trips.
Sharing further insights, Nkani stated, “While South Africa has traditionally been perceived as a multi-generation, family destination, it is heartening to see the substantial share of solo travellers in the overall Indian traveller pie. Our evolved brand strategy will help us drive South Africa’s value proposition across stakeholders while creating customized engagement models showcasing destination product offerings to suit the unique requirements from each of our target regions within India.”
With 81,316 Indian arrivals as of October 2019, the destination board shared a positive outlook for the Indian market, noting that as of September 2019, total spends by Indian travellers in South Africa had reached a 4-year high. Average length of stay witnessed a year on year increase of 8 per cent in the first half of 2019.
