Tourism operator Thomas Cook is set to bring the first of 26 000 Germans over the next two years to South Africa on Friday.
Thomas Cook has organised charter flights from Germany as a result of a ground-breaking agreement signed between the giant European tour operator, South African Tourism, Tourism KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape Tourism Board (WCTB).
The first charter flight will land at Cape Town International airport on November 1.
The initiative, that will see an estimated R188-million injected into the South African economy, is being supported by an aggressive marketing campaign mounted in Germany. This is jointly funded by the three parties, the WCTB’s contribution being jointly financed by the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape provincial government.
The visitors will fly direct from Germany into Cape Town or Durban on seven-day packages that encourage add-on options allowing valuable opportunities for small and historically disadvantaged tourism enterprises to benefit.
“We are delighted to welcome this historic, inaugural Thomas Cook charter into South Africa,” said Moeketsi Mosola, chief operating officer of SA Tourism.
“Not only does it pave the way for future agreements but also greatly contributes to our key challenge of increasing tourist volume, enhancing — through valuable word-of-mouth endorsement — South Africa’s reputation as a preferred, value-for-money tourist destination. We must all work together to ensure that these visitors receive South Africa’s warmest welcome,” Mosola said.
“This partnership with the second-largest tour operator in Germany is extremely good news for South Africa and the Western Cape, representing as it does the further cementing of relationships with one of our primary target markets,” Mike Fabricius, CEO of the Western Cape Tourism Board, added.
“This is a long-term investment. Awareness of South Africa in the all- important German market will be greatly heightened as a result of the added benefits in the agreement,” agreed Gareth Coleman, CEO of Tourism KwaZulu- Natal.
These include 60 pages dedicated to South Africa in Thomas Cook’s winter brochure, window displays in all its travel agencies in Germany, extensive television coverage, promotional roadshows and media and agent familiarisation tours to South Africa.
All partners agree that this initiative is an outstanding example of how tourism bodies can work together in the interests of marketing South Africa as a preferred tourist destination. The initiative will go a long way to unblocking the traditional slump experienced from the German market during December and January towards the end result of sustainable job creation. — I-Net Bridge