TravTalk India Online Magazine
Held in Durban, South Africa, Indaba 2018 was a great opportunity for trade to forge partnerships, study existing and emerging products as well as network with like-minded individuals.
Amrita Ghosh from Durban
Mehernosh Colombowalla, Director, Beyond Borders Travel Management Company
Business matchmaking at Africa’s Travel Indaba was structured around the concept of ‘Matched Referrals’ rooted in identifying opportunities, interests and delegates that should connect based on self-supplied data given at the time of conference registration. This helped maximise our goals with the right type of delegates best suited for our business. Our clients will now be able to see Africa way beyond the conventional itineraries.
Kunal Jain, Partner, Spectrum Holidays
In the continent of Africa, we only end up selling South Africa. Indaba was useful in making us aware of an entirely new portfolio of products and destinations like Kenya, Ethiopia, Zanzibar, to name a few. Until now, we were only connected with our suppliers like hotels and lodges through virtual media. The trade show was important in providing a common platform to develop a personal connect with all them, ensuring our rapport and engagement grows stronger. We also met new suppliers as there is a need to know about the trends of the ever-evolving market.
Shailesh Sharma, Director, Headed Goose
It was our first year at Indaba but we really feel that this is an amazing effort by South African Tourism. In the coming few years, South Africa has the potential to become one of the favourite choices among travellers in the world for hosting large groups because of its diversity of culture and offerings of activities which include vineyards, game drives, luxury hotels, adrenaline sports and activities which they already have been offering since a long time. One cannot ignore the warmth in hospitality of the entire country irrespective of which part you are in; you just feel like SA is your second home.
Smita Srivastava, Co-Founder & Director, Chalo Africa Tours
Indaba 2018 was a great opportunity to meet old friends, forge new friendships, study existing and emerging products as well as network with like-minded individuals. The show was well planned, booths were well laid out and designed and a user-friendly electronic matchmaking system ensured meaningful meetings. I particularly liked the focus on encouraging sustainable tourism, a transformation I noticed since my last visit here.
Shivam Vijhani, Head—Client Management, Air Organisers Travel
Indaba is growing on a great pace year on year and so are foreign tourist footfalls to South Africa. The Speed Marketing Sessions during the event covered various areas of tourism interest such as heritage, history and culture, township tourism, wildlife and adventure. The content was in-depth to get a clear idea of what SA has to offer to every traveller irrespective of any age group, budget and preference.
Tushar Jain, Group MD, BTC Travel Group
Indaba 2018 is one-stop show for all your contracting requirements all over Africa. It was interesting to see a lot of travel technology companies providing hotel and sightseeing inventories connectivity through API. Durban has the highest concentration of Indians outside India with footprints of Mahatma Gandhi all over the city. This link will definitely help us in promoting Durban tourism in India.
