Spirit W | We will continue to build brand 'South Africa': Hanneli Slabber
An industry veteran in the tourism and hospitality sector, Hanneli Slabber’s in-depth knowledge of South Africa’s beautiful landscape and the right kind of destination packaging has lead to the creation of many a global marketing campaign that has helped boost travel numbers to South Africa. She has served as Global Manager Product from 2007-2011 post which she took on the mantle of Country Manager, India, South African Tourism. Her efforts have been focused on promoting South Africa as a preferred destination to a potential traveller. She has been developing and implementing marketing strategies, creating awareness of South African Tourism, monitoring the market trends, and improving corporate image.
After the phenomenal success of the first edition of ‘Take Me to South Africa with Jonty Rhodes’, South African Tourism announced the second season of the campaign this January. The tourism board is calling out to all travel buffs to win an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime trip to South Africa with none other than, Jonty Rhodes, who dons the role of a travel host and guide on this trip. Till date, they have received over 1,500 entries and with the exciting contest still open, expect to see more participants applying to be the lucky winners. Last year, South African Tourism set a new dimension in the tourism industry with this never done before consumer outreach initiative where a brand ambassador plays the role of a personal guide for select Indian travellers.
Adgully interacted with Hanneli Slabber, Country Manager, South African Tourism with an aim to know more about the South African Tourism industry, their latest initiatives and her journey in the space that she is in.
Briefing us about the initiative ‘Take Me to South Africa with Jonty Rhodes 2.0' and the contest open for the same Slabber said, “South Africa is every traveller’s delight as the destination provides you with an exciting range of activities to ensure one has a memorable holiday in the country. Through this distinctive contest, we aim to woo and create buzz among our target audience and highlight South Africa as a must visit destination. The response that we have garnered for the contest has been extremely overwhelming and we are delighted to see such great enthusiasm for travel and adventure among Indians. We would like to thank all the contestants who have participated in this contest. Together with Jonty’s love for travel and passion for his country, we will put together an action-packed holiday for the four chosen winners and ensure that they have the time of their life in South Africa”.
Take Me to South Africa with Jonty Rhodes 2.0 is their biggest consumer outreach initiative in the Indian market. “The contest this year was designed to ensure a very high level of engagement with the participants with a theme based game where contenders had to cross multiple levels on adventure, wildlife, art & culture and history, before getting their final aggregated scores. The contest had a new theme this year basis an external research that stated that gaming influences the customer’s preferences and hence we decided to introduce the contest through a game to garner consumer attention towards the destination,” says Slabber. The contest commenced in January 2014 on a specially designed microsite linked to the South African Tourism website (www.southafrica.net). and is still going live as there has been great interest and participation from the Indian audience. Participants with high scores will be called for personal interview session out of which 4 lucky winners will be chosen.
With their campaign being a huge success last year South African Tourism decided to launch Season 2 as an extension of their earlier initiative. Commenting on their success she said, “The month of March 2013 when we launched our campaign saw a stupendous increase in Indian arrivals from the country by 19.2 % and since then we have only seen our numbers grow from the country. The inquiries to our office and to the Indian travel agents have been on a growth trajectory ever since the campaign. As a part of our cinema campaign this year, we showcased a 60 second advertisement announcing the return of the campaign and we will make sure that this time the trip promises to be bigger, better and more action-packed for the chosen winners.”
South Africa has undoubtedly been a preferred choice and regarded as the best destination for vacations. With innumerable activities on offer for Indian tourists, the Rainbow Nation is also known as the ‘world in one country’. It is a perfect family holiday destination where activities are offered for all age groups. Elaborating further on this she says, “The youngsters in the family can look forward to adventure sports, for the elderly couple we have wine route drives and sightseeing, honeymoon couple can look forward to a self-drive watching the sun go down from the table mountain, children can look forward to amusement parks, ladies can enjoy an amazing bush spa experience and shopping at some of the biggest mall in the Southern Hemisphere. For all the wildlife lovers, South Africa is a paradise with multiple game reserves and unique game drive experiences. If you are one of them who live for the adrenalin rush, then South Africa is your playground.”
Some of the world’s best climbing, surfing, bungee, diving, hiking, horseback safaris, mountain biking, river rafting, cage diving’s - and just about any other extreme activity you can name, are on offer in the country.
As far as growth in terms of tourism and revenue is concerned the latest arrival figures of October 2013, indicate that 92,559 Indian tourists have visited South Africa between January 2013 and October 2013, an increase of 5.3% vis-à-vis the same period last year.
When asked to share her views on the Indian travel market vis a vis other markets she avers, “India is one of the largest and fastest growing travel markets in the world. The importance of India as a source market for South Africa cannot be underscored as India is an emerging travel market with massive growth potential. It is the third largest market in Asia and seventh globally for South African Tourism. Over the years, we have come a long way in promoting South Africa as the preferred travel destination amongst Indian travelers. Through our multiple initiatives, we have showcased unique experiences available in the country across varied travel segments and age groups. South African Tourism has a long-term vision for this market and through our sustained engagement efforts with trade and consumers we will maximize the opportunities to our best efforts to increase tourism arrivals from the country.”
“We are confident that with our combined resources and expertise we will be able to put together some unique experiences for Indian travelers across varied segments and age groups,” she added.
Slabber also went on to enumerate the various marketing strategies which have really worked really well for South African Tourism and spoke about their upcoming plans for 2014. Year 2014 has started on a promising note for South African Tourism in India with their key initiatives receiving a tremendous response in the country. The response garnered by them at the road show this January which was attended by over 1200 Indian travel agents in Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai in the presence of 65 South African suppliers has been noteworthy. Their cinema and outdoor campaign too has been launched this year. “As we move further in 2014, we also have a robust plan to further develop our relationships and engagements with the Indian travel trade in the coming year with multiple activities planned,” stated Slabber.
Learn South Africa, their popular annual classroom training programme for frontline staff of travel agencies will be undertaken this year as well and are considering organizing the same in South Africa, giving the key travel trade an opportunity to ‘Meet South Africa’ and gain hands on training in the country. Though it is still in the planning stages more details on this will be shared closer to the launch. Last year during Learn SA, a lucky draw contest was held wherein 28 winners were shortlisted who got a chance to visit South Africa last month.
South African Tourism India has opened application for the biggest travel trade event for Africa in South Africa, INDABA 2014. Like every year, they intend hosting key travel trade to be a part of INDABA 2014 giving them an opportunity to meet the diverse tourism offerings of the country. South African Tourism also hosted 43 Indian trade partners for Meetings Africa in February 2014 which offered a great platform for Indian travel community to engage with South African product owners and suppliers to explore business opportunities.
Apart from trade events, South African Tourism will be hosting popular travel agents for familiarization trips to South Africa through the year in association with South African suppliers such that the key influences of the travel market will be able to sell the destination more effectively to the end consumer. South African Tourism will be entering into joint marketing agreements with leading travel companies in India to launch attractive travel packages for Indian consumers. She went on to inform, “Our research has given us key insights into the unique needs of today’s evolving Indian traveler and these products are well crafted to cater to their discerning demands. Our 360 degree trade and marketing initiatives aim to build an aspiration around South Africa as an ideal holiday destination catering to diverse interests of Indian travellers. With the Indian outbound market expected to grow at a massive growth rate in the coming years, we will continue to woo Indian audiences with our unique and innovative consumer and trade initiatives in 2014.”
On the personal front Slabber shared about her association and professional journey with South African Tourism. Although her experience in the industry spans 2 decades she considers her association with South African Tourism since the past five years to be an extremely special and a phenomenal one. Sharing more on this she recounts, “My role as Country Manager for South African Tourism in India started in March 2011. At the helm of affairs, my core responsibility is to effectively market the destination to Indian audiences and help further increase Indian arrivals to the country. Prior to this role, I was the Global Product Head for the board and was based in South Africa. After completing my Honour’s Degree in Applied Anthropology (With Honours) from the University of Pretoria, I went on to begin my career in the hotel industry before moving to sales and marketing. With experiences in both inbound and outbound companies, I was heading Contiki Holidays before moving to South African Tourism.”
What made her choose the tourism industry as her profession? Answering this she said “I am an anthropologist by trade and although I entered the sector entirely by accident rather than design, I absolutely love it. It cuts across so many sectors and you continually learn and are exposed to new things - and mostly you do it in a gorgeous environment!” Taking on this extraordinary role has been a thrilling opportunity for her. Following the connection between India and South African Tourism which she has cherished for a while now makes her happy to lead a market which has increased incredibly year on year and she is glad to be an integral part of the building blocks for South African Tourism in India.
Today’s travel and tourism industry has grown into a global economic powerhouse whose combined direct and indirect impact on the world economy, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), in 2012 was US$1.2 trillion; 260 million jobs; US$70 billion in investment and US$1.2 trillion in exports. There is immense demand in the tourism industry and it will only grow in the coming times.
Shedding light on prevalent trends in the travel industry today she said, “Talking about trends, of late we are seeing a lot of Indian tourists planning their own itineraries tuned to their specific interests and preferences and this trend is expected to mature in the coming years. Newer concepts like self-drive holidays are slowly catching up among Indian tourists and we foresee growth in this segment in the coming year. Tourists are also expressing interest in exploring newer regions and experiences in South Africa. So, apart from visiting Cape Town, Garden Route, Kruger National Park, Johannesburg and Durban, we will also see Indian tourists exploring newer regions in South Africa. This is where we see a large percentage of repeat travellers coming into the country as South Africa has so much to offer that tourists keep coming back for more. Additionally experiences like exploring the city through running tours and partaking in voluntourism activities are initiatives that we expect Indians to increasingly adapt in the coming times.”
MICE is another segment which is expected to grow in the near future. Conferences and meetings in the bush, visiting wine estates for meetings and workshops are going to gain immense demand in the coming year. Corporates are not opting for simple itineraries, instead they are demanding for innovative programmes, specifically tailored to their company’s needs. On the conferences and events side, The South African National Convention Bureau has been successful in helping the country to secure 106 major bids for the period 2013 until 2017. The tourism industry is incredibly resilient. The WTTO shows that despite continued economic turmoil, slow growth, etc. the GDP contribution of the sector grew for the third consecutive year in 2012 (still awaiting 2013 figures) and the sector created more than 4 million new jobs which is huge and it means one in every 11 of world's total jobs is in tourism. The sector outperformed the entire wider economy in 2012, growing much faster than other notable industries such as manufacturing, financial services and retail.
“For an industry that contributed to over 10 % of all new jobs created in 2012, we need to start taking it a lot more serious - and that means that across the globe we need to discuss visa regimes, reduction in punitive taxation levels, infrastructure development, etc. The sector punches way above its weight valued,” avers Slabber.
Citing their plans to strengthen the market in India Slabber said that in the past few years they have seen an upsurge in demand in adventure tourism and of late a keen interest in cultural tourism as well. A recent example is their 11th Annual Road show 2014, which has seen a lot of enquiries for art and culture tours in the country. Indian tourists have always wanted to explore the museums, art galleries, theatre, music and immerse themselves in the country’s diverse cultural experiences. Recently, they announced their global initiative targeting the family segment, which is one of their fastest growing segments across the world where an adventurous Indian family with children between the age group of 10 – 14 years gets a chance to star in South African Tourism’s global advertising campaign. “We want to widen our reach to the discerning Indian families and showcase South Africa as the perfect holiday destination that provides varied experiences for all age groups. The chosen family will get a once in a life time opportunity to indulge in 20 inimitable experiences in 10 days and take home some amazing and unforgettable memories,” she informed.
Concluding a most interesting and informative conversation Slabber said, “Indians have always loved South Africa for the wildlife experiences. In the coming times, you will see us promoting newer experiences and newer regions among Indian travellers. We will continue to build the brand in India by undertaking interesting consumer and trade initiatives in the market.”
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