“I wanted to get more familiar with South Africa. To send people to a destination you have to touch, smell and see it. You need to meet the people and eat the food,” said Gra?yna Grot-Duziak, one of the Director’s of Weco-Travel. She is “more than sure” that requests to travel to South Africa are increasing in Poland. Word is out about the country’s good hotels, beaches, cities, game parks and good weather. “I now have a better idea who to talk to, what to ask for, and how to combine things on an itinerary,” says Grot-Duziak
Grot-Duziak was one of 20 hosted buyers at the Meetings Africa 2014, who recently spent two days travelling around the Mpumalanga Province. The Meetings Africa 2014 is an annual event held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. It attracts: conference organisers, meeting planners, corporate travel agents, associations and government departments. It also as attracts specialist international buyers who are looking for suitable business tourism products and services.
“From our point of view, Meetings Africa 2014 was a great success and we were delighted to have the opportunity to show 20 travel industry professionals, some of whom were on their first visit to South Africa, some of what Mpumalanga has to offer,” said Dlamini. These travel professionals come mainly from the incentive travel sector.
Investors representing businesses in: India, Australia, Hungary, Poland, China, Spain, France, Belgium and the United Kingdom, had the opportunity to experience a variety of accommodation and activities on their whirlwind trip and assess their suitability for group and incentive travel in particular.
After flying into Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport, a visit to the Mbombela Stadium was followed by a site inspection at Ingwenyama conference and sports resort. The afternoon schedule included a late lunch: at Sabie Valley Coffee and quad-biking and boating activities at Induna Adventure in Hazyview. After dinner and a good night’s rest at Hippo Hollow Hotel, the second day’s programme kicked off with a morning elephant encounter at Elephants Whispers and then a transfer to Sabi Sabi Reserve, where an early evening game drive ended in spectacular style with a sumptuous bush boma dinner.
“In Spain, the focus has been on South America. Now, people want new destinations that offer exclusivity and that extra something special that will make their trip truly memorable,” “In my company, we work a lot with the senses; so something like the Sabi Sabi safari and the boma dinner meets our criteria exactly; it fits our market.” says José Muñoz, CEO of L&P Travel.
“It’s all about levels of comfort, food and service,”
“We send clients all over South Africa, but for me, Kruger and the kinds of experiences it offers, is always a highlight.” says Richard Latham, founder of Zeta Tours.
For more information on the traveling agencies go to the following links:
Weco-Travel (www.weco.com.pl).
CEO of L&P Travel: (http://www.lptravel.es/).
Zeta Tours: (http://www.zetatours.com/).
