Another global market bets
big on Indian tourists, South Africa eyes film and MICE tourism
28 May 2022 – Money Control
South Africa aims to attract close to 29,000 Indian
visitors in 2022, a 64 percent year-on-year increase over 2021, said Neliswa
Nkani, hub head, MEISEA, South African Tourism.
Among the
many international markets eyeing Indian visitors to boost tourism is South
Africa, which expects double-digit growth in arrivals from India in 2022 over
2021.
South
Africa aims to attract close to 29,000 Indian visitors in 2022, a
64 percent year-on-year increase over 2021, said Neliswa Nkani,
hub head, MEISEA, South African Tourism.
“India is our
seventh largest international source market and is one of the top three
focus markets for South African Tourism globally. A large portion of Indian
arrivals into South Africa are from Mumbai (48 percent), New Delhi
(26 percent) and Bengaluru (9 percent),” Nkani told
Moneycontrol.
She added
that travellers from Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata too contribute in a
big way. “Ahmedabad, Goa, Chandigarh and key cities in Kerala are fast emerging
traveller markets for us,” she added.
The
country, which had recorded close to 100,000 Indian visitors in 2019, is
expecting to reach pre-pandemic levels by 2023-2024.
“Earlier
this year, we outlined a strategic roadmap to garner increased Indian
visitation in 2022. With over 4,600 Indian visitors travelling to South Africa
during January and February 2022, we are on track to achieve or even
surpass these targets, especially with the opening up of international air
routes and easing of travel restrictions,” said Nkani.
She added
that the lifting of travel restrictions and resumption of international
flights is boosting outbound travel intent. “At present, there are
several stopover flights from India to South Africa, including Emirates, Air
Seychelles, Qatar Airways, Etihad, RwandAir, Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya
Airways. We expect more air partners to come on board through the course
of the year and will also be introducing special fare deals with airlines
soon.”
To boost
travel from India, South African Tourism had recently launched its
More and More campaign, followed by a four-city roadshow, SATTE (South
Asia’s Travel & Tourism Exchange) 2022. In addition, two months ago
the country held a consumer activation (exhibition) in Mumbai. “We
are witnessing an uptick in demand for the destination (South Africa). Over
7,000 visas have been issued from Delhi and Mumbai until now this year,” she
said.
Focus on
film and MICE tourism
Nkani
noted that for South African Tourism film and MICE (meetings, incentives,
conferences and exhibitions) tourism are the segments in focus this year.
“In fact,
in the last three to five months, we have seen huge interest from film
production companies. We have been in talks with a couple of big banners
in India to launch South Africa on the silver screen, either by way of
Bollywood movies, web series or advertisement shoots. We look at assisting our
partners with securing easy shoot permits as well as advantageous and
competitive pricing,” she said.
With
corporate travel also seeing a recovery after the COVID-19 impact over the last
two years, Nkani pointed out that they have multiple groups
travelling to South Africa in the next quarter. “We have also been receiving
long lead enquiries from group sizes varying from 2,000 to 4,000.
Additionally,
we anticipate bookings from the financial, information technology, beauty,
insurance, coal and mining, pharmaceutical, entertainment and sporting sectors
in India.”
She added
that the target segments for South Africa in terms of travellers
coming from India are experience-seeking millennials, high net-worth
individuals and the family-oriented middle class. “These are anticipated to be
the driving force behind travel recovery. We also expect to see a rise in FITs
(free independent travellers), drivecations, honeymooners and travellers from
niche communities.”
Travel
info
Nkani
said, “South Africa has no restrictions for tourists. The
country never closed its doors to Indian travellers during the
pandemic. Travellers from India to South Africa will be required to produce
either a fully vaccinated certificate or a negative PCR (polymerase
chain reaction) test not older than 72 hours from the time of departure,” she
added.
The South
African Tourism official also shared information about visa offerings for
Indians. “We are currently processing Indian tourist and business visas on
priority. At present, travellers can apply via VFS (Visa Facilitation Services)
or can directly apply online for our e-visas, which are being piloted in
India.”
She added that stamped passports are available within seven working
days or less from the date of application. “There is no visa fee for Indian
nationals. However, the VFS logistics fee to process visas from Mumbai and
Delhi is Rs 2,040, and Rs 2,301 to process visas from Gurgaon, Jaipur, Kolkata,
Ahmedabad, Pune, Bengaluru and Goa,” Nkani said.
www.samigration.com