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South African Airways brings the 2015 Africa showcase to
the U.S. and Canada
The Africa Showcase is the largest travel
trade event in North America featuring exclusively
African suppliers that represent hotels, safari lodges,
destination tourism organizations and other attractions
that are popular with North American travelers. The show
brings Africa travel specialists the latest trends on
the region’s products and services, enabling those who
participate to boost their sales to the increasingly
popular destinations throughout Africa. The Africa
Showcase is hosted in collaboration with On Show
Solutions, a South Africa based event organizer.
“We are proud to see the Africa Showcase
getting bigger and more popular every year,” said Todd
Neuman, Vice President Commercial for South African
Airways in North America. “We are also very excited to
bring our show and suppliers to the Canadian travel
specialists for the first time. It is a strategic and
growing market for SAA and we look forward to a very
successful first edition.”
“The Africa Showcase in the U.S. - our
highlight on the global roadshow calendar – is again
well supported by a phenomenal line up of 30 suppliers,”
said Jacqui
Reynolds, Managing Partner of On Show Solutions. “We’re
anticipating representation and product experiences from
more than 12 African countries, providing a good
cross-section of what this dynamic destination has to
offer the North American travelers.”
In addition to its traditional format,
South African Airways and On Show Solutions will also
introduce VIP buyer encounters. These dedicated sessions
create an additional opportunity for top African travel
specialists to meet suppliers through scheduled
one-on-one appointments.
The dates and venues for the 2015 Africa Showcase are:
- September 29th: Los Angeles, CA
- October 1st: Dallas, TX
- October 5th: Boston, MA
- October 7th: Toronto, ON
TOURISTS INCREASINGLY FACTOR WELLNESS INTO THEIR TRAVEL
PLANS, FROM INDULGING AT A FARM-TO-TABLE RESTAURANT TO
REGENERATING THEMSELVES AT A SPA OR IN A LOCAL EXERCICE
CLASS
Europe and North America continue to dominate wellness
tourism, with 216 million trips in Europe and 172
million trip made to North America in 2013, based on new
research from SRI International in the Global
Spa and Wellness Monitor report.
Globally, the report finds wellness tourism is a $494
billion industry, based off domestic and international trips
classified as either primary or secondary reasons for
travel, as well as all travel expenditures. There were more
than 586 million domestic and international wellness trips
last year, up 12% from 2012.
North America saw $195 billion in revenue from these trips
last year, the highest amount of wellness tourism revenue of
any continent. Europe saw $178 billion in revenue, while
Asia had the third highest revenue at $84 billion and 152
million trips.
The list of places wellness tourists go to fulfill these
plans, though, has some new names that see the highest
percentages of growth, such as Sub-Saharan Africa and the
Middle East.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the world’s fastest growing region for
the amount of trips taken to the region. Last year, tourists
spent $3.2 billion on wellness experiences in the region, a
57% increase from the previous year. Sub-Saharan African
countries welcomed tourists on 4.2 million wellness trips in
2013, representing a 90% increase year-over-year.
The number of countries with spas in the region tripled
since 2007, as there are now 42 countries with 1,544 spas,
yielding $800 million in revenue.
For the region’s spa
market, South Africa,
Kenya and Seychelles lead the way in revenue, and South
Africa, Kenya and Mauritius have the highest revenue for the
region’s wellness tourist market.
The report adds that although modern concepts of wellness
are still new for much of Africa, many cultures have long
traditions of wellness and healing practices. Strong
economic growth in countries such as South Africa, Ghana,
and Nigeria also helped position the region as an
up-and-coming wellness player.
The Middle East and North Africa is the second
fastest-growing wellness tourism market, even though it had
more trips and higher revenue than Sub-Saharan Africa. There
were 7 million wellness trips to the Middle East/North
Africa in 2013, a 48% increase year-over-year, and $7.3
billion in revenue, up 39% from 2012.
SPEED MARKETING WORKSHOPS TO PROMOTE SOUTH AFRICAN TOURISM
MARCH 18, 2014
European tour operators and travel
agents met with South African
companies and learned more about the
country’s hidden treasures and Fair
Trade Tourism.
Speed
Marketing Workshops – an efficient way to find
new business partners
Under the motto “Meet South Africa”, the Swiss
Import Promotion Programme SIPPO of Switzerland
Global Enterprise (S-GE) recently organized five
Speed Marketing Workshops in Zurich, Vienna,
Frankfurt and Munich. During these Workshops, 12
South African companies successfully marketed
their unique products in short presentations.
Following the presentations, tour operators and
travel agents had the opportunity to meet with
the South African companies individually and to
discuss further business opportunities. Within a
short period of time, the tour operators and
travel agents from Switzerland, Germany and
Austria discovered a wide range of new and
unique products, most of them as of yet unknown
on the European market. They particularly
appreciated the workshops as an efficient
platform to find innovative and reliable
business partners offering new products, and to
meet with them in one-on-one discussions. They
were captivated by South Africa’s hidden
treasures and learned more about Fair Trade
Tourism, the world’s first Fair Trade
certification programme. As a result of the
contacts made during the Speed Marketing
Workshops, first orders were placed right
afterwards.
The Speed Marketing Workshops were organized by
the SIPPO programme in collaboration with South
African Tourism, Tourism Enterprise Partnership
and Fair Trade Tourism.
The Speed Marketing
Workshops are a very efficient way to get in touch with a group of
potential partners and to initiate cooperation.
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