Take Me to South Africa 2.0 campaign gains momentum!

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 you 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, we have received over 1500 entries and with the exciting contest still open, we expect to see more and 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. The entire journey of the 4 contestants and Jonty was captured and aired on an unscripted reality show on national television that showcased the exciting offerings and experiences for tourists in the Rainbow Nation. The fabulous South African sojourn from the first season encouraged the tourism board to use the visual content for their television and cinema campaigns with an aim to attract the potential travellers from the Indian market. There is nothing better than Indian travellers sharing their story and encouraging others on why South Africa is an absolute must visit for an enriching holiday experience.

Ms Hanneli Slabber, Country Manager, South African Tourism 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”.

Basis an external research that stated that gaming influences the customers preferences, South African Tourism decided to introduce the contest through a game to garner consumer attention towards the destination. Hence, 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. Participants with high scores will be called for personal interview session out of which 4 lucky winners will be chosen. 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.

Brand Ambassador of South African Tourism, Jonty Rhodes said: “The contest has been extremely intense and exciting this year. It is encouraging to see an upsurge in travel enthusiasts from the country. I am eagerly waiting to host the four lucky winners in my mesmerizing home, South Africa. The exciting itinerary that will be put together by South African Tourism will surely be bigger, better and more power packed than last year. I am certain the chosen winners will have a fantastic trip and take home some unforgettable memories.”

We are pleased to announce that as per the latest arrival figures of October 2013, 92,559 Indian tourists have visited South Africa between January 2013 to October 2013, an increase of 5.3% vis-à-vis the same period last year.