Wednesday, 30 October 2013 18:24
India is the sixth biggest long-haul tourism source market for
South Africa
Ms Hanneli Slabber
Interview with Ms
Hanneli Slabber, Country Manager, South African Tourism in India.
South African Tourism is the national tourism agency responsible
for the marketing of South Africa as a preferred tourist destination. South
Africa has varied activities on offer for tourists from South Asia. South
Africa has enjoyed double digit growth from the Indian market for the last five
years with the numbers increasing substantially each year. India is the sixth
biggest long-haul tourism source market for South Africa. South Africa also has
a diverse culture which interests South African travellers to explore the
culture of other countries.
This month the
Global Editor for Foreign Exchange Diplomatic Society (FETDS), Srimal Fernando
was pleased to interview Hanneli Slabber, Country Manager for South African
Tourism in India . In this exclusive Interview the Country Manager for South
African Tourism in India talks on perspective on the strategy of the South
African tourism development in India, current connectivity between India and
South Africa, opportunities for growth, challenges and about the initiatives
South African Tourism will be undertaking to engage with the Indian
travel trade.
Srimal Fernando (
SF) : You have now been with South African Tourism for a long
time. How long have you been working in India as the Country Manager of South
African tourism? Can you tell us about your work experience before you arrived
in India?
Hanneli Slabber, Country Manager, South African Tourism (CM) : My role as
Country Manager for South African Tourism in India started in March 2011. At
the helm of affairs, my core responsibility is to effectively market the
destination to Indian audiences and help further increase Indian arrivals to
the country. Prior to this role, I was the Global Product Head for the board
and was based in South Africa. After completing my Honour’s Degree in Applied
Anthropology (With Honours) from the University of Pretoria, I went on to begin
my career in the hotel industry before moving to sales and marketing. With
experiences in both inbound and outbound companies, I was heading Contiki Holidays
before moving to South African Tourism.
SF : Can you give
us a brief overview on South African Tourism in India? What is your marketing
strategy in India? What are your predictions for season 2013/14?
CM : South African Tourism is the national tourism agency
responsible for the marketing of South Africa as a preferred tourist
destination. It is headed up by Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Thulani Nzima. In
India, we have an office in Mumbai with a focused team spearheading our
successful communication, marketing and trade initiatives across the country.
Over the years, we have been continuously enhancing our efforts in popularizing
the destination and further developing our relationships and engagements with
our key stakeholders in the country.
South Africa has enjoyed double digit growth from the Indian
market for the last five years with the numbers increasing substantially each
year. As per the latest arrival figures for June 2013, 59,161 Indian tourists
have visited South Africa between Jan 2013 to June 2013 which is an increase of
11per cent vis-à-vis the same period last year. We had set a target to achieve
100000 tourist arrivals from India by 2014 but we managed to achieve that as of
December 2012 itself. We are expecting at least 15 per cent more Indian
tourist footfall into the country in 2013.
Talking about our marketing initiatives in India, we started our
year with a new outdoor and cinema campaign. ‘The more you do, the closer you
get’ outdoor advertising campaign was undertaken across 21 cities in India. 462
media units highlighted the diversity of experiences offered on a fun-filled
holiday with activities and opportunities to grow closer to your fellow
travellers. The campaign stimulated the curiosity and interest levels of Indian
travelers by showcasing the overwhelming experiences and infinite opportunities
that the Rainbow Nation has to offer.
The month of March continued to bustle with action and
excitement as SA Tourism launched the annual cinema ad campaign across 7 key
cities in India. Through this campaign South African Tourism targeted 96
screens across movies like Himmatwala, Oblivion and Iron Man-3 through 45-sec
ads that highlighted South Africa as a fun and activity-filled travel
destination.
This activity was followed by the second edition of popular
travel show “Life Mein Ek Baar" (Once in a lifetime) on Fox Traveller
which was shot in South Africa. We were extremely delighted to showcase the
best and varied experiences offered by our country to the Indian audiences through
this popular show.
One of the key highlights this year was getting popular South
African cricketer Jonty Rhodes on board as our brand ambassador for the Indian
market. Jonty has a huge fan-following in India and his love for travel and
South Africa makes him the perfect ambassador of choice to promote South
Africa’s varied and exciting tourism experiences in India. South African
Tourism launched a contest titled ‘Take me to South Africa’ with Jonty Rhodes
which provided an opportunity to four lucky winners to explore South Africa
with Jonty as their special guide and host for two weeks. Post this trip, Jonty
launched a travel guide on South Africa in association with Lonely Planet. The
travel guide titled, ‘My Travel Escapades in South Africa’ captured the
exciting journey of Jonty with the contest winners through cities of
Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and the picturesque Garden Route, covering
various game reserves and scenic winelands. To further promote the guide, South
African Tourism partnered with NDTV Good Times as the channel partner for this
initiative. They have captured the exciting South African journey of the four
lucky winners with Jonty Rhodes in a three episode series titled “South Africa with
Jonty Rhodes”. Moving forward, South African Tourism will continue to work
closely with Jonty and come up with some exciting platforms and initiatives to
engage with the Indian travellers and promote South Africa as a preferred
holiday destination in India.
South African Tourism also believes in providing firsthand
experience to media and trade partners. We regularly host media to South Africa
and make them experience the beauty, culture, activities, luxury, nightlife,
food and lifestyle of the country. We also do similar hosting for our trade
partners where the focus is more on itinerary planning. This is done in
conjunction with South African products and suppliers. As a tourism board, we
will continue to invest in such FAMs so that we help the media and trade to get
closer to the destination.
Every year, we announce JMAs with leading travel companies in
India. This year, we have signed JMAs with Kulin Kumar Holidays, Club 7
Holidays, Kuoni India and Thomas Cook. In line with the growing popularity of
South Africa as a tourist destination in India, we will continue to market our
destination offerings to varied traveler segments by engaging with different
trade partners across the country. Recently, we completed our Learn South
Africa training workshop across 15 cities in India where we trained over 1500
travel trade partners through 27 sessions. We are also coming up with a new
online training programme called SA Specialist India; a free online independent
study programme will give participants the flexibility to enhance their
knowledge about South Africa as a travel destination at their own leisure time.
Travel agents influence tourism planning decisions and outcomes by being
trusted advisors and guides for travelers who want to explore the world. This
is why continuing destination education and training for travel agents is
extremely critical.
It feels good to see that our initiatives are being appreciated
and rewarded. South Africa was awarded the Best International Wildlife
destination by Lonely Planet in 2012 and 2013 and Today’s Traveller Best
Publicity and Promotions Award last year. South Africa was also awarded the
Best International Lifestyle Destination of the Year at NDTV Good Times
Lifestyle Awards 2013.
SF : South Africa
made great improvements in the number of visitor's arrivals. How do you explain
that?
CM: We have seen a tremendous growth in tourist
arrivals to South Africa year-on-year. If we look at our global figures, total
visitor arrivals in 2012 was 9 188 368 which is an increase of 10.2 percent
from the previous year. The Indian market is also on a growth trajectory with
our arrival figures for Jan 2013 to June 2013, witnessing an increase of 11
percent. As a tourism board, it is completely overwhelming for us to see this
growth from the Indian and International markets. We have invested
substantially in our innovative communication, marketing and trade campaigns to
maximize the opportunities available in the growing travel outbound market
across countries. Minister of Tourism for South Africa, Marthinus Van Schalkwyk
announced earlier this year that South Africa aims to become one of the world’s
top 20 tourism destinations by 2020 and the tourism board is determined to
increase the number of global foreign tourist arrivals to 15 million by 2020.
Furthermore, in the coming year, South African Tourism (SAT) will roll out a
global hub strategy created to effectively deliver the destination marketing
message, with a wider reach than ever before. To further bolster growth, we
have identified core markets, investment markets and tactical markets across
the world.
SF : When
tourists from the Indian Subcontinent Countries think of South Africa the first
thing that comes to mind is nature and wildlife Safaris. What else can one
experience in South Africa?
CM : South Africa offers innumerable activities for
Indian tourists to indulge in. Apart from wildlife some of the must do
experiences that Indian tourists are fond of include the following:
Scenic Splendour and Serenity - South Africa is blessed with
spectacular scenery and natural landscapes - soaring mountain peaks and passes,
dense and ancient forests, miles of unspoiled coastline, rivers to sooth or
thrill you, and rolling flower fields and grasslands of every hue. South Africa
has places to be still, places to inspire you, places to explore or to simply
revel in the joyous gift of nature.
Wine Tasting - With wine regions stretching from the western to
the far northern Cape and the edge of the Karoo you can almost taste your way
around South Africa. Sample at well-known estates or seek out little-known gems
– our Port and Brandy routes are renowned too. Where there’s fabulous wine,
great food is never far behind. Oenophiles, gastronomes and sybarites – don’t
miss our winelands.
Magnificent Marine - Where else can you sail beside a whale, go
eye-to-eye with wild Tiger sharks, cage-dive with Great Whites, be charmed by
urban penguins, snorkel beside whale sharks and be entranced on a moonlit beach
as new-born turtle hatchlings make their bid for life in the ocean?
Outdoor Rush- Beautiful weather, spectacular locations, awesome
scenery, and record-breaking, mega-thrill adventure mixed in – that’s how we’ve
earned the title the Adventure Capital of the World
Urban Rhythm - Feel the energy of our cities, catch the beat of
Afro-pop, hip-hop or jazz at a shebeen or all-night club, play in our casino’s,
visit our museums, be entertained in our theatres. Shop, dine and follow the
pulse of our rhythm to your next urban African adventure
South African Feast - From traditional comfort food to
Michelin-star dining; a hearty shebeen buffet or a gourmet banquet beneath a
star-strewn African sky, let your taste buds take you on a journey of discovery
with mouth-watering South African soul food
Indulge your senses - Relax and rejuvenate the South African
way. Cocoon yourself in calming treatments and soothing therapies. Scented
traditional balms made with indigenous oils and ingredients will have you
stress-free and feeling like African royalty in no time.
SF: What is the
current connectivity between India and South Africa? How important is South
African Air (SAA) to the marketing campaigns of South African Tourism?
CM : A greater number of airlines offer daily flights to South
Africa, thus increasing the connectivity and offering more options, flexibility
and convenience to the Indian travelers. South African Airways fly daily to
Johannesburg while Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways connect key Indian cities
to Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.
South African Airways is one of our key valued partner in
increasing tourist arrivals to South Africa. Daily direct flights from Mumbai
have made it feasible for Indian travellers to visit the Rainbow Nation. SAA
holds a key role in key initiatives through the year. They are a part of our
annual roadshow every year and also the Learn SA training module this year
thereby providing them with a platform to interact with the Indian travel
partners to explore mutually beneficial areas of cooperation.
SF : What is
India's market share in your overall tourism arrivals?
CM : According to our arrivals statistics of May 2013, India
is the sixth biggest long-haul tourism source market for South Africa. Over the
years India has emerged as one of the world's fastest-growing outbound tourism
market. Keeping this in mind we are investing heavily in this market and
constantly adapting to the changing consumer interests, diversifying our
products and customizing our offerings to varied consumer demands. We have a
lot of expectations from the Indian market and going forward our increasing
engagement with trade and consumers would help us in realizing this vision.
SF : What type of Indian traveler is South African Tourism
aiming to attract?
CM : The Indian travelers visiting South Africa are
well-informed and aware about the destination. We see a good mix of luxury
travelers, adventure seekers, wildlife watchers, budget travellers and also
cricket fans. We are flooded with a lot of enquiries for Indian cricket team’s
tour to South Africa for the tests and ODI series. People want to find out how
they can they get a good value for money holiday experience during the
tournament while some plan to extend their trip post the tournament and explore
the country.
Also, in India you cannot discount the influence of Hindi
movies. Not to forget films such as Race, Cocktail among others and TV shows
like Life Mein Ek Baar 2, South Africa with Jonty Rhodes who have captured the
scenic beauty of the Rainbow Nation in their canvas. After seeing the movie
Cocktail, we saw queries coming in from Indian travel enthusiasts who wanted to
go to South Africa and explore the destinations highlighted in the movie.
On the other hand, South Africa has also grown to be a popular
MICE (Meetings, Incentive, Conference & Exhibition) destination. The world
class facilities are encouraging many corporate houses to organize conferences
in South Africa. Corporations such as Tata, Godrej, Infosys, Mahindra and
Ranbaxy have already made a formidable presence in South Africa and we foresee
many more Indian companies to enter SA in the coming years and will definitely
see an upsurge in business travellers. Corporate rewards are no more a memento
on the table; employers are rewarding their best workers with holiday packages
as well. Thus South Africa is a destination for both leisure and MICE.
SF : How many South Africans annually
visit countries like Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Nepal?
CM : The South African travelers visiting the Maldives, Nepal
and Sri Lanka during the period from 2008 to 2012 are shown below.
Country Year Total
Maldives 2008 66
2009 53
2010 88
2011
39
2012 41
Nepal
2008 392
2009 355
2010
575
2011
491
2012 469
Sri
Lanka 2008 1,973
2009 2,260
2010 3,549
2011 3,955
2012 5,420
As per the latest
figures 5,420 South African tourists have visited Sri Lanka
in 2012. The number of South Africans visiting Sri Lanka has increased
from 1,973 in 2008 to 3,549 in 2010. However Nepal and the Maldives
witnessed a significant increase of South Africans visiting their countries
during the same period.
SF : What are the unique selling points of South Africa that
can attract International tourists from South Asia?
CM : South Africa has varied activities on offer for
tourists from South Asia. It is a perfect family holiday destination as we
offer activities for all age groups. The youngsters in the family can look
forward to adventure sports, for the elderly couple we have wine route drives
and sightseeing, honeymoon couple can look forward to a self-drive watching the
sun go down from the table mountain, children can look forward to amusement
parks, ladies can enjoy an amazing bush spa experience and shopping at some of
the biggest malls in the Southern Hemisphere. For all the wildlife lovers,
South Africa is a paradise with multiple game reserves and unique game drive
experiences. If you are one of them who live for the adrenalin rush, then South
Africa is your playground. Some of the world’s best climbing, surfing, bungee,
diving, hiking, horseback safaris, mountain biking, river rafting, cage
diving’s - and just about any other extreme activity you can name, are on offer
in the country.
SF : South African
Tourism has made great inroads here in India. How do you engage with the Indian
travel trade industry (travel agents, tour operators, etc)?
CM :Travel agents influence tourism planning decisions and outcomes
by being trusted advisors and guides for travelers who want to explore the
world. How attractive a destination appears to customers depends a lot on how
the tour operators portray it to them. Therefore, continued engagement with the
Indian travel trade is high on our priority.
In Jan this year, South African Tourism organised the four-city
roadshow which travelled across Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and New Delhi. The
roadshow gave representatives of both the countries an opportunity to come
together and conduct meaningful business and explore mutually beneficial
opportunities. We organize the biggest travel & tourism roadshow in India
represented by the Indian trade and SA products. While the South African
partners get to learn about the latest travel trends in India and traveler
interests, Indian trade use this platform to learn more about the latest
offerings of South Africa which can be customized as per the preferences of
Indian travelers. We make sure that variety of South African products attends
our roadshow every year such that the Indian trade partners get the opportunity
to further expand their understanding and offerings of South Africa and create
itineraries which will be preferred by Indian travellers.
Our recently concluded module three of ‘Learn South Africa’
program with travel agents across 15 cities was another fruitful initiative
that educated more than a 1500 agents on how best they could sell South Africa
to their clientele. In fact this year, Learn South Africa was structured in a
very unique manner in comparison to the previous modules. A selection of South
African suppliers was a part of the training programme which facilitated a more
collaborative and mutually beneficial learning environment. This provided an
opportunity to the travel partners to interact directly with the South African
suppliers and better understand the varied product offerings that South Africa
presents to the Indian travellers. In the travel industry, travel agents
represent a key influence in the tourism marketing. Therefore, we believe that
our travel partners are the true custodians of our brand. Hence, educating
agents about a destination and providing intensive training to them in
extremely important. We also know that Indian travelers do way more activities
per day than tourists from other countries. Hence it is essential to package
the itinerary in a way that they lose minimum time in travelling and gain the
maximum number of experiences to indulge in.
We also host Indian trade on FAM trips through the year. South
African Tourism hosted 68 travel agents for 7 FAMs in association with SA
products and suppliers last year. We want the Indian trade to see the country
first hand, experience all the activities we want to popularize and then sell
it to the consumers in India. As we speak, we have a delegation of 12 trade
partners exploring varied experiences in South Africa across Cape Town, Johannesburg
and Durban.
We have continued our efforts in undertaking JMAs with the
leading travel companies in India so that Indian tourists get some exciting
packages for South Africa. Tourists eager to enjoy their Diwali and Christmas
holidays in South Africa, now have the opportunity to take advantage of the
special, fun-filled, activity and experience rich holiday itineraries from
Club7 Holidays, Kulin Kumar Holidays, Thomas Cook India and Kuoni India for the
same. These JMAs focus on varied aspects of South Africa such as cities;
self-drive, scenic beauty, wildlife and adventure which help us reach out to a
larger segment of audiences across the country.
SF : Where do you see opportunities for growth? What are the
challenges you foresee in the Indian market?
CM : Indian travellers are always on the lookout for great value
for money holiday experience and South Africa is a perfect destination for the
same. The key to success in this scenario is to deal with the changing travel
patterns and consumer preferences effectively by diversifying our products,
maintaining excellent service and innovating our marketing and distribution
channels. The most critical element is to ensure that we deliver value for
money holiday experience to Indian travelers by offering varied experiences to
suit every need and desire. In the current scenario, we have seen the INR
strengthening against the ZAR over the last few months, thereby resulting in a
‘bonus’ value for our travelers – their good deal just got a whole lot better!
Another challenge that we face from India is direct flights to South Africa.
South African Airways offers daily direct flights from Mumbai but more direct
flights are needed from other key markets like Delhi.
Cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad are mature markets for
us. But we are witnessing growth in arrival figures from cities like Hyderabad,
Bangalore, Chennai, Pune and Kolkata. In the past few years, we have undertaken
multiple initiatives in these mini-metros and tier II markets to popularize South
Africa and we hope to see tremendous growth from these new source markets in
the coming times.
SF : In terms of
cultural appeal, what can India and the other Indian Subcontinent countries
offer to South African visitors?
CM :Cultural tourism India is a predominant factor behind India and
other subcontinent countries meteoric rise in the tourism segment in recent
years, because from time immemorial, these countries have been considered the
land of ancient history, heritage, and culture. Tourists from South Africa are
always excited to explore newer destinations and witness the unexplored. South
Africa also has a diverse culture which interests South African travellers to
explore the culture of other countries. Tourism will thus play a key role in
pulling tourists towards the rich culture and heritage of these countries.
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