It is once again that time of the year when the tourism industry descends on the biggest tourism display on the African continent, the Tourism Indaba 2016 that is billed to take place at the Durban ICC and DEC in Kwa-Zulu Natal from 07 to 09 May 2016.
Indaba is the biggest Travel and Trade show in Africa and one of the top three must-attend events of its kind. South African Tourism says that over 9 000 meetings have already been scheduled and 3 000 meetings confirmed. This is up by 1 000 when compared to just over 2 000 last year, which equates to 5.3 meetings scheduled per participant, also up from 3.2 last year. The show attracts well over 13 000 delegates from the travel, tourism and related industries. The event is a very important and significant platform whereby Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) together with various other tourism destinations will be showcasing their tourism offerings.
“Our focus at Indaba this year will be multi-thronged where our plans include the use the platform to increase our brand awareness equity in the industry through the identification of new marketing channels; meeting with Destination Management Companies (DMC’s) that deal with inbound tour operators and encouraging the inclusion of NMB on their itineraries; identifying distribution and marketing channels for the NMB Tourism pass to create awareness of the attractions and activities in and around the city; re-affirming a working relationship with South African National Parks (SanParks) and securing opportunities and programs to assist SMME’s during Indaba,” said Mandlakazi Skefile, Chief Executive Officer of Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism (NMBT).
Skefile also added that NMBT will be launching Nelson Mandela Bay as the Bottlenose Dolphin Capital of Africa where one of the speakers will be Ms Tokozile Xasa, Deputy Minister for Tourism the Indaba this year. The new NMBT website and the Nelson Mandela Bay Pass, which enables the destination to showcase the affordability offered by the city, will also be promoted to trade at the expo.
“Meetings are central to participating in Indaba. One of the meetings we are particularly excited about this year is with the South African embassy in Germany in preparation for a special auction they will be hosting on Mandela Day this year. We have arranged special mohair items as well as a handmade African penguin that the embassy will auction for charity at the event. We hope that this will give us extra exposure in Germany which is one of our source markets and also highlight our unique Marine and Mohair experiences to them,” said Skefile.
There is every reason for NMBT to attend Indaba 2016 as a destination as it gives NMB an unrivalled opportunity to keep abreast of global trends and new developments in travel and tourism; meet industry stakeholders and media face to face; gain competitive advantage in the sector; and meet Buyers and operators from across the globe.
“We have been exhibiting at Indaba for over 20 years precisely because of the presence of many quality attendees from our source markets such as Europe, Germany, US and UK and our participation in such shows continues to bear the desired outcomes over time,” Skefile concluded.
Alan Straton
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