The Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) is all set to organise its fourth Annual Convention in the beautiful city of Cape Town in South Africa from August 11-14, 2018. ‘Digitalisation – The Way Forward’ is the theme of the convention this year.
Announcing the convention dates in New Delhi, Mahendra Vakharia, President, OTOAI said: “We are very excited to explore the beautiful destinations and hotels of South Africa to have a firsthand experience.” “Through our convention, we are endeavoring to bring value on the table for our members, country and the host destination. The three conventions that OTOAI has conducted so far had excellent feedback not only from the members but from the tourism boards as well,” he added.
According to the figures given, the host countries of past conventions, Manila – Philippines, Bali – Indonesia and Ras al-Khaimah – UAE have attracted a significant tourism growth of 28%, 65% and 27% respectively after OTOAI convention.
The Vice President & Chairman Convention OTOAI, Himanshu Patil informed that the convention would have in-depth discussion on ‘Digitalisation – The Way Forward’. Elaborating on the theme, he added that the digital tools are playing an important role in enhancement of business today. While the big travel companies are adopting various digital and technical methods, the small travel agents are still in manual mode. “We wish that all our members must explore this beautiful destination and participate in a large number,” added Patil. OTOAI is expecting 200+ delegates for the upcoming convention.
Alpa Jani, Manager-Trade Relations, South African Tourism said: “Those OTOAI members who have successfully completed the South Africa Specialist programme will be a part of this convention. We are all set to extend the support required to make this convention a great success.” This is the best time to visit South Africa as July 2018 marks the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela, which has a yearlong plan to celebrate in all across the country.
Commenting on the importance of the convention Bunny Bhoola, Director, African Link Travel said: “The convention will give an opportunity to develop partnership with local suppliers because there is an exhibition component that is going to be added to the convention.” “South Africa has been well known for Cricket, because between India and South Africa it has been so strong. However, the underline aspect is, economies of both of the countries needs to grow, and it’s going to be happen through partnerships in tourism that can gain benefits to all the people,” she added.
Guldeep Singh Sahni, Immediate Past President, OTOAI, said, this convention will help educating our members and travel fraternity on the culture and heritage of this a beautiful country at large.
There would be a three day pre & post FAM trips for the delegates which will be organised from 8-11 and 14-17 August. The trip includes Garden Route, Sun City, Kruger National Park and Johannesburg. These are available on first come first served basis.
Emirates and Ethiopian are expected to be the partner airlines for the convention. The cost of the registration for members will be INR 77,000 ex-Delhi and INR 69,000 ex-Mumbai.
Direct connectivity to South Africa – need of the hour
Despite the fact that there has been a constant increase in the number of tourist travelling to South Africa; if you look at the whole number of travellers the country is receiving at the moment, there is a huge scope from India. Despite having a huge potential of tourism the country is still looking to achieve its deserving number of share from this part of the world. As per the industry stakeholder’s feedback, if there is a direct connectivity to South Africa the number can go up many folds, said Guldeep Sahni.
“Direct flight from India to South Africa is need of the hour, and I am sure if it happens, will make a huge difference. If you look at the trends, where there is a direct connectivity from source to final destination the tourism increases rapidly,”.
Sahni further said that there are some countries which may not have much tourism potential but the numbers are still growing. Quite possible, the country may not have looked at tourism as one of the product, but the tourist definitely looks at that country to visit because of the direct flight.
Speaking on the same lines, Vineet Gopal, Director, Representation World said that if South Africa wants to see the good numbers coming from India, definitely they need a direct flight. “As a tour company I can say that South Africa has a huge demand, there was lot of queries from the travellers. However, non-availability of direct flights is a challenge as one has to go to other option which makes fare too high. And sometime people shift to other destinations because of the higher cost.”
South Africa needs to have connectivity from all regions of India because the number of travellers is increasing across the country. “There was a time when a travel agent/tour operator from tier two city used to go metro city to buy its products, which is not happening any more. Rather operators who have been selling in metro cities are going to tier two cities itself. So if the connectivity happens directly they need to transit just one domestic flight to reach the destination which will see a huge growth itself,” added Sahni.
In long haul sector, if you look at the demand and supply South Africa can take huge numbers if certain corrective measures are done both by the tour operators and the tourism board itself. Apart from metro, there is a huge growth in tier two cities where South Africa needs to strengthen its presence and attract the travellers to visit the country. The country needs to strengthen its partnership with travel agents and have good quality applications for their visa.
While highlighting another important area needs to improve Gopal said that grant of Visa was taking a lot of the time. “Though they have addressed the issue very impactful and done a huge work in Delhi. The north India is comfortable with the Visa at the moment while western and southern part is still needs to get better.”
Sahni suggested, Honeymoon and Family are two segments that the country needs to focus upon as these two can add a remarkable number of tourist to the country. The itinerary has to be designed in a way where Indian can get food of their choice. “I think the tourist is also growing to an extent, they don’t want Indian food everywhere but after a day or two every nationality wants their food. Also, needless to say that they (South Africa) need more promotions across the country,” he concluded.
