South Africa Tourism has witnessed a growth of 27.9 per cent in Indian arrivals from January to June 2016. According to arrivals statistics of August 2016, India has now emerged as the eighth long-haul tourism source market for South Africa.
Speaking about the development, Hanneli Slabber, Country Manager – India, South African Tourism said, “India has always been a very important market for South African Tourism. 2015 was a spectacular year for South African Tourism and with a steady rise in arrivals in the first half itself, 2016 could well turn out to be one of the best years ever for South African Tourism in India. As of June 2016, 51,020 Indian tourists have visited South Africa between Jan 2016 to June 2016 which is an increase of 27.9 per cent vis-à-vis the same period last year. We are looking at around 100,000 visitors from India to South Africa in 2016. We had 79,000 visitors from India in 2015.”
She further added, “India has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing outbound tourism market over the years. Keeping this in mind, we are investing heavily in India and constantly adapting to the evolving consumer interests, diversifying our products and customising our offerings to varied consumer demands. We have wonderful expectations from the Indian market and going forward our increasing engagement with trade and consumers would help us in realising this vision.”
As per the recently released TTFDS report, there has been a significant increase of 51 per cent in the Total Foreign Direct Spend in South Africa per person travelling from India excluding capital expenditure (all pre-payments done in India prior to departure). The average spends in SA by Indian travellers increased from 10,400 Rand in 2014 to 15,700 Rand in 2015. According to the recent report on the length of stay for 2015, the average number of nights spent by Indians increased by one night making it an average of 18 nights.
Speaking about the trends from India market Slabber said, “A growing number of Indian tourists, who have valid driver’s license, are opting for self-drive tours along various scenic routes. We do see a lot of destination weddings going to Cape Town and the Game lodges – this is especially the trend where one party is a NRI. It has been observed that a lot of the smaller weddings opt for game lodges. They often take over the whole lodge and tend to spend a lot of time there before the wedding, bonding with family and friends.”
South Africa offers one of the world’s best adventure opportunities. “Adventure enthusiast can choose from a variety of exciting activities – on land, air and underwater – including numerous cycling, hiking and running trails, surfing, sky-diving. From bungee-jumping off the Bloukrans Bridge, which is the highest commercial bridge in the world, to abseiling off Table Mountain, diving with great white sharks to snorkelling with sea horses in Knysna, South Africa is a one-stop destination for the adrenaline junkie, Slabber added.
Last year, South African Airways had discontinued their direct connectivity between India and South Africa. When asked about plans to re-introduce direct flights, she explained, “Ensuring easy accessibility is of prime importance to the continued growth of tourist arrivals from India. Presently, South African Tourism is working with various airlines to ensure sufficient arrivals into key cities including Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, through marketing alliances and code-sharing.”
