South African Tourism will be at WTM London to share details about a newly opened contemporary art museum as well as plans to commemorate the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth next year.
The destination enjoyed strong growth from the UK market in 2016 with a 9.9% uplift in visitor numbers, achieving a record 447,840 tourists.
2017 is set to be another positive year, contributing towards South African Tourism’s global goal of attracting five million additional tourists within the next five years and aiming to maintain the UK as the number-one source of international arrivals.
Key developments include the 2017 opening of Zeitz MoCAA (Museum of Contemporary Art Africa) at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town – the first museum in Africa dedicated to contemporary art, while 2018 is set to be a momentous year for the country of South Africa with the Nelson Mandela Centenary marking 100 years since his birth.
Members of the travel trade are invited to visit the stand to meet over 25 exhibitors including airlines, regional tourism offices, hotels and excursion providers. Among them will be six key SME (small and medium enterprise) companies over to WTM for the first time to meet with international buyers and other delegates.
The focus on small businesses is part of South Africa’s National SME Market Access project, an initiative funded by the National Department of Tourism through its Tourism Incentive Programme, in partnership with the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA).
It is aimed at broadening the variety of tourism products on the market while up-skilling and empowering black-owned small enterprises.
Over 300 SMEs are part of the programme, hailing from each of South Africa’s nine provinces, ranging from safari tour operators to adventure tourism experiences, from African day spas to townships restaurants, from B&Bs to boutique hotels and from horse riding operations to helicopter rides.
Members of the media will have the opportunity to speak to the South African Tourism team over a drink at the stand on Monday 6th November.
Stand: AF250