South African Tourism is keen to consolidate its market in India, which has jumped two places in 2022 to emerge as the 6th largest source market for the destination. Mumbai remains the largest source city for South Africa with 64 pc of bookings for the first six months of the current year.

Keen to build on the momentum from the year 2022 when it saw a 200 pc growth in the Indian market, South African Tourism is now targetting a 35 pc growth in its MICE business in India in the current year.

According to a press statement by South African Tourism, in 2022, India moved up two spots to become the 6th largest international source market for driving tourism in South Africa. The statement adds that in the current year, the tourism board is aiming to achieve a substantial increase of 72 pc in the number of Indian travellers over its target for 2022. The tourism board adds that keeping in mind the current demand, the tourism board is also eyeing an overall increase of 35 pc in MICE travellers from India.

The statement says that South Africa has emerged as one of the leading travel destinations for Indians in 2022. Owing to its robust recovery efforts and aim to promote diverse, authentic destination offerings through the More & More campaign, an increasing number of Indian tourists are choosing South Africa as their next adventure destination.

To propel the momentum further, South African Tourism organised roadshows in key Indian cities of Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Mumbai from February 13-16 along with its 35-member trade delegation showcasing innovative and one-of-a-kind offerings for Indian consumers and trade partners.

The statement adds that the participating exhibitors represented key regions such as Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Limpopo, and Eastern Cape aspiring for fruitful partnerships. The roadshow held in Mumbai resulted in reinforcement of existing business deals between key Indian and South African trade partners and South African Tourism as well as paved the way towards building many such meaningful partnerships in the near future.

“This is the 19th edition of our annual India Roadshow, and each time we are humbled by the warmth destination South Africa receives from travellers across the country. India continues to remain one of our key focus markets globally and it is encouraging to see upward growth from emerging cities like Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad, while traditional markets like Mumbai and Delhi continue to flourish. Building on this momentum further, we recently launched the second leg of our More & More campaign to engage with the audience from our target regions within India through desi and localized content. Through our customized engagement models we hope to further build aspiration and intent to travel,” says Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head, MEISEA, South African Tourism.

South African Tourism says that with more Indian visitors travelling from Mumbai, the city continued being its leading source market in India. It says that Mumbaikars chose Rainbow Nation as their preferred leisure, MICE and bleisure destination enjoying the country’s social life and natural landscapes. Moreover, South Africa witnessed highest number (64 pc) of forward bookings from the city for January-June 2023. The relaxation in travel norms post the pandemic has been one of the biggest motivators and is showing no signs of slowing down. Confident in retaining the momentum and maintaining South Africa as a desired overseas destination, the tourism board has inked a strategic deal with Ethiopian Airlines. This value-driven deal offers Mumbaikars the lowest fares to Johannesburg and Cape Town, starting from INR 42,139/- with additional offers for bookings until March 31.