Next week is the week of Africa’s Travel Indaba, the travel trade show for all of Africa. It will be held in Durban, South Africa, at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (ICC) May 13-16.
The word “indaba” is Zulu for “the story.” For those interested in the African travel industry, Africa’s Travel Indaba is the time and place to get the story, directly from the people engaged in that industry, at the point where participants gather from around the world.
There will be 26 African countries participating in the show. Indaba used to be a South Africa-specific event, but several years ago it expanded to include all of Africa. By now it has certainly achieved that objective.
Attendance this year is 62 percent higher than last year. Tourism has now fully rebounded from COVID. The North American arrivals market has surpassed that of the UK, making it South Africa’s top inbound source market. But the U.S. market is just getting started. Only a small percentage of Americans have traveled to Africa, but a large percentage aspire to travel there. So, as travelers continue to become more experienced, and reach out to extend their travel experiences, the African travel market is a growth market and a supreme opportunity for American travel advisors. And it’s still early in the game, still a good time to dive in.
Africa is a growth market in America, and South Africa is the ideal entry point, with its combination of urban and country culture as well as its wilderness adventures and huge variety of types of landscapes and experiences available.
I will be attending Indaba, and following it with a tour of South Africa, including Johannesburg, Cape Town, and a safari in the Eastern Cape province. For those who are interested in travel to South Africa, but can’t attend themselves, I’ll be sending back reports along the way, sharing impressions and information about what I experience at the trade show and the post-conference tour. I hope to tell some of the little stories of the big story of Indaba and South Africa.
Angellotti’s South Africa
Meanwhile, for a great introduction to travel to South Africa, South African Tourism’s head of trade relations in North America, Kristy Angellotti, recently conducted a webinar entitled “How to Plan Your Clients’ Trip of a Lifetime to South Africa.” It gives a solid overview of how to approach selling travel to South Africa.
It’s not such an easy proposition to make the most of what is offered in South Africa in the amount of time most Americans allot for a vacation. The country offers such a wide range of possibilities that choosing the best for someone’s first trip is a challenge.
South Africa is a little less than twice the size of Texas, about two-thirds the size of Alaska. Compared to the entire United States, it’s small. But twice Texas is a lot of country. South Africa has a huge variety of landscapes in that 471,011-square-mile area. It has a huge coastline that runs around about half of the country, from the Atlantic far into the Indian Ocean.
It has mountains, forests, and even deserts. It has modern urban infrastructure in some places, and great expanses of ancestral wilderness in others. Kristy did a brilliant job of trying to sum up a massive amount of information into an overview.
Kristy’s presentation covered key selling points and a familiarization rundown of South Africa’s nine provinces before presenting a series of industry professionals to speak about their particular corners of the African travel industry. It covered far more than I could cover in one article, but here are some of her selling points.
Buying Superpower
One advantage of traveling to South Africa is that Americans and Canadians do not need visas to enter the country. But even better than that, the exchange rate is like science fiction, it provides entry into a world where you are suddenly much wealthier than ever before. The exchange rate is now about 19 rand to the dollar. At half that strong, the buying power of the dollar is still enough to make an American feel quite rich.
Because of that insane buying power, Kristy suggested bringing an extra suitcase “for all the great stuff you can buy while you’re there. There’s incredible value for money, especially in jewelry, arts and crafts.”
The exchange rate applies almost across the board to things produced in South Africa: food and wine, for example, and clothing. And when you are talking about arts and crafts, or South African fashions, the intrinsic value is often priceless.
Transportation
Even though South African Airways is not flying transatlantic routes, there are many alternatives for flying to South Africa. For direct flights, two US carriers are providing routes to South Africa now.
United is flying out of two US gateways, Newark and Washington DC. Delta is flying from Atlanta to Johannesburg and to Cape Town.
Non-domestic airlines will have to include stops in their home countries, so, Kristy said, “Pick your stopover.”
Other airlines providing routes from the U.S. to South Africa with stops, include Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, KLM; British Airways; Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, Lufthansa, and Air France.
Seasonality
South Africa is a year-round destination. It’s in the southern hemisphere, so the seasons are reversed. Our summer is South Africa’s winter. But, said Kristy, “There’s really no bad season for travel to South Africa. The best season is the season when your clients have the most time to travel.”
Food and Wine
“We could talk all day about how incredible the food is,” she said. “It comes as a pleasant surprise to lots of visitors who don’t know what to expect. What you can expect are fresh, organic, inventive, often familiar types of cuisine, and some unique kinds that aren’t as familiar, lots of spices, and there’s just a huge variety.
“So, anything from exotic meats to flavorful curries, to amazing seafood, there’s so much variety and lots of incredible fusions. There are even South African fast food chains. And it goes from there to multi-course tasting menus with celebrity chefs. And don’t forget exchange rates. Your clients can enjoy gourmet meals every night no matter what their budget is.”
And the wine – yes! South Africa’s wine region dates back 365 years. “There are lots of wine regions in the Western Cape,” said Kristy. “About an hour from Cape Town, there are hundreds of wine farms for your clients to explore.”
The South African People
To wrap it up, Ms Angellotti explained that the number one attraction far ahead of any other is the South African people.
“The people are what bring the destination to life,” she said. “When you travel there, it really makes a difference in people’s lives. They are genuinely interested in engaging, in a warm, hospitable, authentic way, a way that is uniquely African. When you have been there, you will know.”
South Africa offers such a wide range of possibilities, she said, it’s like a world in one country. “It has an unparalleled variety of incredible tourism experiences. Few destinations offer this much exciting variety, for everyone and every budget.”
Here are South African Tourism’s Six Pillars of Tourism:
- Coastal beaches
- Wildlife safaris
- Active adventure
- City lifestyle
- Scenic outdoors
- Cultural roots
This just covers a small bit of the webinar. As she went through her presentation of the provinces, she included videos of some of the provinces. The first video she showed was the most amazing of all. It featured Siya Kolisi, a star South African rugby player. The panoramic views of South Africa were breathtaking, as landscape shots of the country often are. It also had some stirring words.
“In 2019 the world saw our best,” he said, “but where does that come from? Often our best has no fixed address. Our best can be found in unexpected places. You’ll probably have to do some work to find it. But don’t worry. There’s always someone who will show you the way. If you are patient, sometimes our best will come to you. So take your time. Look closer, because the best our country has to offer is always just beyond the obvious, but never out of reach”
David Cogswell is a freelance writer working remotely, from wherever he is at the moment. Born at the dead center of the United States during the last century, he has been incessantly moving and exploring for decades. His articles have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Fortune, Fox News, Luxury Travel Magazine, Travel Weekly, Travel Market Report, Travel Agent Magazine, TravelPulse.com, Quirkycruise.com, and other publications. He is the author of four books and a contributor to several others. He was last seen somewhere in the Northeast US.
