South African Airways Takes The World To Africa

with Caroline Booth

“At South African Airways our saying is that we take the
world to Africa and bring Africa to the word, but tonight we brought Africa to
Toronto,” said Stroebel Bekker, V.P. Sales North America.

Last week, the airline held its African showcase in Canada
for the very 1
^st time. Agents were invited to the Hyatt Regency in
downtown Toronto to meet with 30 representatives from
hotels, safari lodges, destination tourism
organizations and other attractions
to learn about what’s new and
upcoming.

As the
largest travel trade event in North America featuring exclusively  African
suppliers, the show has already been running in the U.S. for the past 7 years.
David Chorely, Director Sales Canada for SAA
said that this Canadian debut came at the request of the supplier and agency
community who voiced a strong desire to learn more about Africa and its
offerings.

“There’s a nice buzz in the room, you can feel the energy,”
said Bekker who was pleased with the evenings’ turnout. Bekker added that
Canada is an important market and Toronto in particular accounts for 5-10% of
the visitors from North America. “Supplier
partnerships span the country and have been
great advocates for travel to Africa, so being here is a show of appreciation.” The customer base is also very diverse and
includes groups, students, corporate, leisure and government travel.

“We cover the full gamut,” added Chorely who acknowledged
that the Star Alliance partnership with Air Canada helps to account for the
wide reach.

The evening began with
presentations by a few feature suppliers followed by a reception where agents
could eat and mingle casually with other guests. Following was the round robin
presentation portion of the evening where each supplier met one on one with
agents to give a brief overview of their product.

Mila and Murad Velshi  of The Travel Network were
pleased to attend the event. Despite their knowledge and familiarity of the
destination based on past trips, they said there is always more to learn as
there are new developments on the go all the time. This evening they were able
to note a few tips for a group trip they are planning
for the coming months.

Exciting news from Johannesburg is National
Geographic’s recent announcement of
the discovery
of a new species of human relative, Homo naledi. It’s
fascinating that such ancient fossils
are still being unearthed in close proximity
to a metropolis with over 4.4 million inhabitants. Both urban and wildlife tourism are well developed in
South Africa, whereas by contrast, is the vast natural serenity of its neighbour Namibia. According to Ndapona
Schleberger of Namibia’s Tourism Board,
cultural tourism and preservation is promoted over mass tourism. “It is a place
where you can feel like you are the 1
^st to be there. You are at your
peace to find your soul and de-stress.”  

With all of the interest and discussion surrounding Africa,
there are still 2 big misconceptions that people have. One is that Africa is a
once in a lifetime bucket list destination and the other is that it is
expensive. “Don’t put off going until later,” said Bekker. “You should go while
you’re young so you have the opportunity to go back.  Once you’re there
you’ll notice that there is so much to see.” Bekker adds that it is a great
family destination where kids will gain exposure to culture, wildlife and diversity that will change their
perspective on life. As for being expensive. Bekker says that a traveller can
spend just as much for
a week in the Caribbean as a week in Africa. “People think that because
it’s far it is expensive.”

And once clients decide to go, Bekker insists that the
experience shouldn’t only start once they’ve landed. “If you’re going to visit
 a unique destination, you should travel on the airline of that
destination. If you’re going to South Africa, you should travel on a South
African carrier. The experience starts there and you get a feeling of the
culture, the language the taste right there onboard. We have a great destination
waiting and we’re the airline of choice to get you there.”