The climax of South African Tourism’s West African roadshow took place two days ago at the Federal Palace Hotel and Casino in Lagos.
After kicking off penultimate week in Accra and Kumasi inGhana, marketers of the “Rainbow Nation” exhibited and made presentations in Abuja and Port Harcourt before the finale in Lagos.
It was an opportunity for South African businesses, especially in the hospitality industry, to introduce and in some cases, reintroduce themselves to the Nigerian market.
The roadshow highlighted South Africa’s affordable experiences and diversity of offerings to key travel partners in the West African region spanning across travel, accommodation, entertainment and events, with a focus on opportunity for partnership development between and among South African Product Owners (SAPO), Trade partners and other stakeholders.
There were trade workshops and engagements, SA Specialist graduation ceremony and the launch of the South Africa Trade Awards.
Among the exhibitors were the Tsogo Sun group, Sun International, the Hilton, South African Airways, other airlines from East Africa and numerous tour operators.
Tourism remains a key driver of South Africa’s national economy and contributes a major contributor to the employment of its citizens. The sector contributes about 9% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). South Africa welcomed 2.7 million tourists in 2017 and this is mainly due to its aggressive tourism drive spearheaded by South African Tourism.
SAT markets South Africa internationally and domestically as a preferred tourism and business events destination, ensures that tourist facilities and services are of the highest standard, and monitors and evaluates the performance of the tourism sector.
Over the years, outbound travel and spending has grown in the West African region with a 12.7% increase in trips between 2013 and 2018 for the Ghanaian market and a 1.9% increase in trips for the Nigerian market with total outbound expenditure growing by 14.6% in the same period.
