‘India among top three focus markets for us’

A whopping 1.9 million international visitors were welcomed by South Africa between January and May 2022 while clocking a 122 per cent year-on-year increase in comparison with April 2021. Among these, India was the seventh largest international source market with 17,267 arrivals till May 2022. The African country has so much to offer that travellers more often than not are spoilt for choice. A coastline stretching 3,750 km, royal national parks of the Rainbow Nation, safaris, adventure activities and the option to enjoy starlit skies from the comforts of a suite or a cage to view sharks in the deep blue sea are some of the many attractions for tourists, not only for Indian but global tourists as well. This attraction has led to India now moving up to the sixth spot in terms of international source market for South Africa. For this reason, India is one of the top three focus markets for South African Tourism globally, says Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head – MEISEA, South African Tourism, especially as Indian travellers are resilient and adventurous. Consequently, South Africa is making several efforts to make things easier for Indian visitors.

Easier access to Visa

The first among the efforts taken by South African Tourism is priority processing of tourist and business visas from India. “Over 7,000 visas have been issued from Delhi and Mumbai until now this year. The e-visa is currently being piloted in India and should be actively accessible to consumers very soon,” she says. 

In the meantime, travellers can apply via VFS as the visa processing time is extremely short. On the other hand, visa fee is an important factor for many travellers and to encourage tourists from India, neither the South African Consulate General nor the South African High Commission charges any visa fee. “However, the VFS logistics fees to process visas from Mumbai and Delhi is Rs 2,040, and Rs 2,301 respectively to process visas from Gurgaon, Jaipur, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bengaluru and Goa,” she explains.

Creating packages as per demands

“Recognising demand for offbeat and non-touristy experiences, we are packaging and selling itineraries that include the new regions of South Africa, ones which go beyond Cape Town, Johannesburg and Sun City (North West). Travellers can use these anchor cities as a gateway to the rest of these picturesque new regions including the unexplored Port Elizabeth, Robertson, West Coast, Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal, Panorama Route (Mpumalanga) and Garden Route,” says Nkani.

Marketing and activation strategies

The country’s tourism board has accelerated recovery initiatives in India this year due to its importance to the African country. “In the first quarter of the year, we rolled out our ‘More & More’ campaign tailored, specifically for evolved Indian travellers who seek more out of every opportunity a holiday presents. This campaign highlighted the variety and diversity of experiences that South Africa has to offer, ranging from more than 3,000 adventure activities to exciting culinary experiences and more across its nine provinces. With a360-degree holistic engagement, the campaign had multiple rollout legs to it, starting with OOH advertising in Mumbai and Delhi. This was complimented by digital activations across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter as well as on-ground physical consumer, trade and corporate activations in Mumbai and Delhi,” Nkani shares.

This campaign has been supplemented by robust travel trade engagement as South Africa kicked off its first physical annual roadshow post-pandemic in four Indian cities. It also took part in SATTE 2022, during which it introduced a localised ‘Live More’ campaign in India, an extension of its global Live Again campaign. “Additionally, efforts are being made to directly dial-up the consumer and build aspiration for destination South Africa. Two months ago, we had a huge consumer activation in Mumbai where we brought the sights, sounds and tastes of South Africa alive. With performances by South African dance troupes, indigenous music and delectable food cooked by South African chefs at Phoenix Palladium in Mumbai, we were able to engage and delight audiences. We also hosted culturally immersive activities like South African face painting, hair braiding, bead work and DIY graffiti walls in addition to Oculus – a virtual reality journey into the deep blue seas and mesmerising safari routes of South Africa,” she adds.

Expectations from India market and road ahead

Asserting that the tourism board expects large numbers of Indian visitors to enjoy all that South Africa has to offer with the help of its campaigns and ease of travel, Nkani says, “We anticipate bookings from financial, information technology, beauty, insurance, coal and mining, pharmaceutical, entertainment and sporting sectors in India. We also anticipate the return of traditional, big Indian destination weddings. Film tourism is another key focus area for us. In fact, in the first few months of the year, we saw huge interest from film production companies.” For 2022, the aim is to attract 29,000 Indian visitors to mark a 64 per cent year-on-year increase as compared to 2021.