Nordics drawn to a `safe` South Africa with value for money

Source: Tourism Update, 05/08/2016

The perception of South Africa as a secure destination, along with
favourable currency exchange, is encouraging to the Nordic market,
which, for the first four months of 2016 recorded increased South
African tourist arrivals.


According to figures released by Statistics South Africa for the first
quarter of this year, arrivals from Denmark were up 12.36% and Sweden
14.97%. Norway showed a decrease of 6.49% and statistics for Finland
were not individually recorded by the bureau.


From Copenhagen, Patrick Menzies, SAA`s Manager – Sales and Marketing
for Scandinavia, Finland & Baltics, reports a 12,6% increase for the
four countries from January-April, with concomitant increases in the
airline`s passengers. "However, without the unabridged birth
certificate issue, one could speculate if this increase would have
been higher," he says.


Menzies points out that in 2015, South Africa was the region`s sixth
most popular long-haul destination, although with just under 90 000
tourists, it trailed well behind the USA which attracted almost a
million Nordic travellers, and Thailand with 750 000. "The serious
expansion of Norwegian Airlines` non-stop long haul offering to the
US, coupled with a good selection of other long-haul non-stop
services, determines the travel pattern of the general public," he
says.


Reviewing Africa-bound figures in general, Nordic operators differ on
whether the number of Nordic arrivals is genuinely increasing, or just
redistributing so that South Africa is currently riding the crest of
the wave. Per Caroe, Country Manager Nordic and Baltic for Kenya
Airways, based in Copenhagen, says the swing towards South Africa is
"probably mostly a shift between African countries, rather than
organic growth". Nordic travel specialist, Carlos Leite-Ferraz of
Credo Travel Marketing in Finland, says tourist numbers to Africa are
consistent, but right now travel to Kenya is "a bit down and South
Africa is up".


Operators also differ on the question of Nordic travellers`
sensitivity to security threats. Pernilla Landstedt, Director/Partner
of Propel Africa Destination Management, based in Cape Town, says:
"The Nordic travellers seem to continue travelling all over the world
despite the different threats in the world." Leite-Ferraz agrees:
"The Nordics are very consistent. In fact, during the tough months of
Ebola the market was actually very stable and consistent."


Caroe, however, says Nordics do tend to over-react to incidents. The
attacks in Paris and Brussels have had a negative impact on those
countries as destination choices, as has terror in Turkey. "It is
common that, if people feel insecure, they prefer to stay home or go
to places they know well."


Suzanne Benadie, Sales and Marketing Director of Your Africa in
Johannesburg, says some aspects of South Africa, such as crime, do
concern potential Scandinavian travellers. However, overall, Southern
Africa is seen as safe, although getting the message across is often
complicated by the perception that Africa is one country.


Says Caroe: "A big and general challenge is to teach
Europeans/Scandinavians that Africa is a continent with 54 countries."
Nordic travellers hearing of incidents in strife-torn countries such
as South Sudan, Burundi or Mali, do not always differentiate these
locations from the rest of Africa.


Rune Engstrøm, Director of Destination Africa in Norway, echoes the
point: "Lots of people see Africa as one place. They hear about crime
and so on, but when you get a chance to talk, they understand fast
that 99% of tourist destinations, especially in Southern Africa, are
very safe."


With the rand at low levels, South Africa has extra appeal for the
Scandinavian market. "SA is seen as great value and in my opinion
this has had a knock-on effect to surrounding countries," comments
Leite-Ferraz. "The countries that are US dollar-priced are seeing the
mid-market pull away from them as the Nordic countries that have
currencies affected by the dollar (Norway and Sweden) feel their
package prices increase substantially due to the currency exchange –
in some cases by over 20% in the last year."


Climate is, of course, another attraction for the Nordic countries,
which endure long, dark winters. "Travel mostly takes place in the
European winter season, between November and March. A very big factor
for the Nordics is the chance to go to warm and sunny destinations,"
says Benadie.


Rung Button, Sales and Operations Director of International Travel and
Tours in Durban, believes that while numbers are looking good, they
could be even more so should SA Tourism put more emphasis on the
Nordic region. "We have seen a 50% growth from Sweden compared with
last year, but lack of marketing by SA Tourism and lack of focus on
the Nordics as important markets is a challenge. For example, we find
that Nordics are reluctant to self-drive, probably due to a lack of
knowledge of our roads and conditions. And yet the German market,
where SA Tourism has been marketing for years, is a solid self-drive
market." She believes that a large growth opportunity exists in the
Nordic countries, provided marketing spend is channelled accordingly
by SA Tourism.