New Delhi: 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.
“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,” says Guldeep Singh Sahni, Immediate Past President of Outbound Tour Operators Association of India.
While explaining, 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.”
As 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,” concludes Sahni.
