South Africa on the prowl for Singapore tourists

SOUTH Africa Tourism (SAT) will make its debut at the NATAS fair this month and pair up with the local travel trade in a bid to reel in more Singapore travellers.
Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily, Hazel Ngubeni, high commissioner of the Singapore South African High Commission, said: “South Africa is too under-marketed in Singapore, so it is our mandate to make sure we make progress with promotions here.”
She added that more had to be done to educate the industry, and hence SAT will hold a seminar for 80 outbound travel consultants this month.
According to Ngubeni, more than 7,000 Singaporeans holidayed in South Africa last year, a number the commission aims to double for 2013. “Singaporeans are very well-travelled, but there is this gap with South Africa,” she lamented.
Ngubeni said that South Africa’s nine provinces including Gauteng, Western Cape and Kwazulu Natal offered wildlife, adventure, beach, luxury and retail attractions, the last of which she expected would appeal to the Singaporean traveller. 
Acknowledging that some still perceived South Africa to be an unsafe and undeveloped country, she said: “I want to remind them that we were the host country of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and during that preparation phase we had lifted the standards of everything, from safety to amenities and infrastructure.”
Meanwhile, Chan Brothers Travel marketing and communications manager, Michelle Yin, said the agency had registered consistent year-on-year growth of 10 to 15 per cent in the sales of their South Africa packages. Chan Brothers offers both nine- and 12-day options.
SAT, Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Changi Airport Group signed an agreement in June this year to collectively invest S$1 million (US$800,154) to promote travel to South Africa. SIA currently operates daily flights to Johannesburg and four-weekly flights to Cape Town.

Sourced: ttgasia