SA experiences lacklustre season for Indian arrivals

Source: Tourism Update, 06/10/2017

South African visa efficiency major factor contributing to decline in
Indian arrivals.
This year, SA saw a lacklustre season for Indian arrivals â€" surprising
everyone after last year’s growth. Industry specialists share the
factors that have resulted in this dip in the market.
Johan Groenewald, MD of Royal African Discoveries, says there are a
number of reasons why Indian arrivals are down. “The first thing we
have to take into consideration is that 2016 was an exceptional year,
the growth was remarkable, and so we shouldn’t expect to see the same
numbers as last year.
“On the other hand, the increase we have seen in European arrivals,
during what is usually considered the low season, could be impacting
on the Indian market. European travellers are booking flights on
Middle Eastern carriers and taking the seats that are usually open to
Indian travellers. The European market is also more inclined to book
in advance, while the Indian market tends to book last minute. This
could mean that when the Indian market got around to booking travel to
SA they either found that they couldn’t get flights, or the seats that
were available were too expensive.”
He adds that the European market has shown increased interest in SA
because they have recently become fearful of travelling to competing
destinations, such as Turkey. Conversely, as a result of a decrease in
European bookings, Turkey was able to market more aggressively to
Indian travellers, offering lower rates on both flights and packages.
“We are competing with a variety of destinations when it comes to the
Indian market. Those destinations have become more aggressive in their
marketing and so we aren’t the ‘flavour of the month’ with Indian
travellers any more. Turkey is one such example, as is Bali which has
just added a direct flight route to India,” says Groenewald.
He suggests that South Africa should improve its marketing aimed at
Indian travellers, starting with visa regulations.
“Other competing destinations offer online visas, visas on arrival, or
guarantee that visas will be issued within 48 hours. South Africa is
becoming uncompetitive because of our visa regulations. We claim to
issue visas within five days but we know that often there is a delay
or a client doesn’t get their visa in time. India is a ‘last-minute
market’ we need to make it easier for them to travel.”
Vikram Samant, MD of Quantum Travels, agrees. “The travel trade has
lost complete faith in the South African consulate. Most of the
reputable agents have kept South Africa on the back burner, never
really encouraging their clients to opt for South Africa because, at
the end of the day, when the consulate doesn’t deliver, it’s the
travel agent who deals with the client’s reproach.
“There have been several instances where the Indian traveller, and
the travel agent, have lost a small fortune because of the visa
delays. The reputation of the South African consulate is so bad that
our clients refuse to provide us with a booking deposit until the
visas are processed, which means we take all of the risk and the
stress â€" and it’s not worth it at all. One can never depend on the
South African visas being processed on time, which I feel is one of
the major factors contributing to South Africa’s decline in Indian
arrivals.”
He adds: “If SA wants to improve Indian arrivals, the most important
thing is to ensure that the consulate regains the confidence of the
Indian travel agents. We can sway a traveller’s decision. We will be
more than happy if we were simply advised that the visas will be
granted in 30 days, for instance. If we then got the visa on the 30th
day, that would be fair enough. The real problem is that the consulate
never keeps to any of the commitments it makes.”