Meetings Africa – Exhibitor Views (Part Two)

Some more exhibitors that The Mole visited regarding South African Business Tourism:

Elephant Sanctuary

Fancy walking along with the end of a wet trunk in your hand? Where is this leading you may think – well actually you can do the leading (literally!) at the Elephant Sanctuary at Hartbeesport.

Wendy Hecker from the Elephant Sanctuary explained to The Mole that a close-up, hands-on interactive experience awaits those who join one of their educational programmes at 8am, 10am or 2pm each day (including a lunch or dinner).

Visitors can groom an elephant, discover their individual personalities and learn all about these great creatures.  There is also a lodge where you can stay and do you know that inside an elephant’s trunk there are three fingers?  Not like ours, but they are definitely there to grab things (sounds a bit alien-ish!) so it seems that elephants have an additional hidden hoover attachment.

Perhaps The Mole should speak with John Dyson to add a new innovative part to his cyclonic masterpiece…..!  Check out www.elephantsanctuary.co.za

Mpumelelo Travel & Tours

indi Masinga is a solo operator who is called on by the Gauteng Tourism Authority when they sometimes need someone to look after visitors (typically very last minute!).

This could have certain advantages for Aussie & Kiwi organisers, as Lindi could end up being a handy life-saver for those delegates who, er…. provide a slightly bigger challenge on pre and post show tours, where an individualised itinerary may be preferable for all members of the group!

Lindi is a guide, who can also provide transfers to and from venues, hotels and the international airport in Johannesburg.  Lindi can be contacted on [email protected] .

Dragonfly Africa

Tom Jager, the Manager for Group Business Development at Dragonfly, says that that the more unusual the scenario, the more Dragonfly Africa loves it.

Dragonfly has a significant presence in South African Travel and Tourism, specialising in safaris, helicopter adventures, air charter and transfers.  The name ‘Dragonfly’ is very descriptive – a dragonfly is similar to a helicopter in that both can hover!

Dragonfly’s core markets are meetings, incentives and conferences in Australia, the United Kingdom and the US.  They have recently opened a Russian marketing office, which is totally inline with their business strategy, namely, to identify ‘unusual scenarios’, then create an innovative ( ie completely different) programme for their potential customers.

The strategy certainly works as evidenced by Dragonfly winning the inaugural South African Business Tourism award for ‘Best Incentive Travel Programme’ held during Meetings Africa.

Jager says that to maintain South Africa as a ‘hotspot’, incentive travel programmes need to be more creative and innovative, whilst being sensitive to the culture and development of the new South Africa. The term ‘Carbon footprinting’ is fast becoming the new industry buzzword in South Africa (get googling!). Delegates have experienced safaris, been to destinations such as Capetown and Dragonfly’s approach is to take an unusual scenario (which can be from a supplier) and turn it into an amazing experience.

Jager also says that Dragonfly ensures that every angle is covered on any programme they develop, so that there are no surprises for anyone involved (and to be prepared for a wodge of information!)

The US is their core market, but interestingly, Australian groups are starting to overshadow their US counterparts in some areas.  Jager believes that DMCs in South Africa can now work collectively to advance the case for Business Tourism in South Africa – it seems likely that Dragonfly will be hovering for quite some time to come.

Wild Culture

John Banda, the Managing Director of Banda Tours, says that the Australian market is firmly planted on his list of priorities.

Wild Culture has a unique selling point – there is no payment up front – Banda is keen for business and his policy is to only accept payment after a tour or transfer has been completed.

Wild Culture Tours and Transfers provide daily tours to a swag of attractions around Johannesburg, including the Cullinan Diamond Mine, The Elephant Sanctuary and The Cradle of Humankind.  Overnight tours from Johannesburg include Kruger National Park and Sun City.

Wild Culture also does transfers all over South Africa for basically weddings, parties, anything (apologies for the bad pun) and can arrange accommodation.  Wild Culture has a late model fleet of vehicles and can handle upwards of 60 in a group.

Banda is also happy to correspond by email and become involved in detailed pre-planning so that you will have confidence that every tour or transfer will be a success. Email: [email protected]

Tourism KwaZulu-Natal

A real opportunity awaits you in KwaZulu-Natal. This is the land of the Zulu, where battles raged that shaped Africa and where you will find four outstanding areas to locate your next meeting or conference:

Durban

North Coast

Elephant Coast

Drakensberg

Rather than becoming a guidebook for the province, just a few points to make about this area of South Africa.  The Elephant Coast is acknowledged as a diver’s paradise, with a number of five-star lodges from which to experience both the diving and the hinterland.  For history groups there are over 200 battle sites from which to chose, including Rorke’s Drift.

Linda Ngcipe the Business Tourism Manager of Tourism KwaZulu-Natal says that the Drakensburg Mountains are absolutely stunning, and it has fabulous golf courses (in fact the South Coast, south of Durban, is also a golfer’s paradise).

The North Coast, north of Durban, sounds a little like the Sunshine Coast (it is roughly the same distance from the equator) but having not moled there as yet, can’t say how close or not it is!

The four areas listed above are designated ‘incentive travel areas’, where the weather is great any time of the year, so you are not restricted to a seasonal destination.

The really good news for planners and organisers is that Tourism KwaZulu-Natal are focusing on Business Tourism to lead the way in building visitor numbers in both the business and leisure arenas.

A new international airport will soon allow long-haul flights to fly directly into Durban, opening up a whole new choice of MICE options, be it coast, hinterland, high mountains, history or heady days of golf.

Linda is very keen to hear from organisers, planners & buyers so that she can show them why KwaZulu-Natal is the ideal place for their next conference. Email: [email protected]

Report by The Mole