US operators keen to sell South Africa

Source: Tourism Update, 10/06/2016

US operators are keen to market South Africa, a panel revealed on
Thursday at the United States Tour Operator Association (USTOA)
workshop hosted by Satsa.


The panel includes North American tour operators, wholesalers and
retail travel agency owners who were in South Africa as part of
Indaba, and also participated in a golf tour organised by
Satsa.


The US trade, some of whom visited SA for the first time, gave
positive feedback of their visit to the country and also said South
Africa was an attractive destination to US travellers in light of
terror concerns elsewhere.


Marketing South Africa as a primary destination will encourage
visitors to visit other African countries in the future, the panel
said.


"I think your goal here is to promote South Africa as a stand-alone
destination, first," said Dave Herbert from Great Safaris. He added
that 40% of Great Safaris clients will combine it with another region,
such as the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.


The panel suggested that tour operators are still highly relevant to
selling Africa. They said booking international destinations for a
long period of time for a significant amount of money cannot be done
online and there is a significant role for the ground handler.


While initially the North American market will travel to South Africa
for a safari experience, when they return to Africa, they will look
towards multi-generational travel experiences that can accommodate
children and grandchildren, the operators said. "There was a big
turn-around in family travel after 9/11 as a lot of people wanted to
get close to their families again," said Herbert.


One of the stumbling blocks to family travel in South Africa is the
requirement for unabridged birth certificates, said Dave Marek from
Ker and Downey/Travel marketing services inc.


Other challenges mentioned by the panel included a lack of
geographical knowledge. More maps locating destinations need to be
included in promotional material, Herbert added.


Kiran Budhdev from Huntington Travel said they experienced many
cancellations after the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, despite many
destinations in Africa not being affected.


Paul Cohen of PH C Consulting said that product development is
important in marketing South Africa as a destination as many Americans
only know Cape Town and the Kruger area. "The more product you have,
the more product Americans can buy".


This was Jim Morrison`s, from Goway, first time travelling to South
Africa. "I already feel like I want to come back."