Travel Note SA

The Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA) continues to thrive in their massive support for Small Micro Medium Enterprises market their products and services in a reachable and clearly defined manner that promote the province as one South Africa’s top tourism destinations.

The agency’s goal and main focus is to empower the products and services by information sharing that eventually leads to financial success and job creation. Amongst the agency’ strategies to promote the province as a preferred destination for travel, leisure, heritage and food experiences, is that it uses platforms such as Africa’s Travel Indaba, the World Travel Market, to mention a few other trade shows. This is in order to enhance business opportunities the province’s tourism products and services to network and seal new deals with buyers and investors across the country and cross-border.

To exhibit at the 2024 Africa’s Travel Indaba, the province took along some upcoming Domestic Marketing Companies (DMC) including Vakasha Tours, owned by Zanemvula Tyokwana and based in a small town named Walmer in Port Elizabeth, also known as Gqeberha. The DMC offers unique tourism services including both city and township tours and golf tours, as well as shuttle services, staff transport and transfers.

Zanemvula says the best part about his work is taking tourists to community projects where they end up even making donations such as money and time, in a form of helping with administrative work.

“As we sell both city and township tours where we take tourists to communities, we expose them to respective projects and with this type of package works for the benefit as some of the tourists visiting such projects choose to donate, which goes a long way contributing to the projects and simultaneously strengthening tourism entrepreneurship in the country.”

“Some of the tourists will even go to the level of helping the projects with social media exposure as most are run by elderly persons who do not have a formal background as to how to run administration work, which is super beneficial to the projects as work being done around the get to be promoted online.” said the Tour Operator.

Zanemvula further said that as his second year to exhibit his services at the Indaba, his experience of sitting in his stall and conversing with his meetings from both local and international has helped him seal deals and potential contracts that seem promising, which he finds beneficial to his business as a tour operator.

“In our stalls we have been visited by a number of DMC’s as well as a travel agents whose some were from Africa. I remember we just met one from Tanzania, where they said they want to trade with us and be able to refer their guests when they come to South Africa, particularly when they land In P.E.”

“We have also received  an invitation by some travel agents from Mauritius and India, where we also agreed that we will be able to exchange our itineraries and prices so that so that immediately after this Indaba, we will be able to do business.” he said.

As a DMC owner, Zanemvula is grateful to ECPTA for having afforded his business an opportunity to have once again attended the Indaba, something he believes will go a long way in making more contact that will lead to financial gain.  

ECPTA’s Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Lihle Dhlamini said that working in the tourism sector for more than 20 years and having attended many trade shows including Africa’s Travel Indaba, has taught her that having so many meetings at tradeshows does not necessarily mean business. The CMO further stated that sealing a deal after a trade shows is the big deal, referring particularly to the recent 2023 Africa’s Travel Indaba.

“I know that people talk about how many meetings they have but for me it’s not about the numbers because that is just quantitative. I always say it’s about the quality of the meeting, so I can have my ten meetings but at the end of the day it’s about closing a deal. You can have your hundred meetings and still get no quality deal.”

“This is a place where we meet different people from all over the world and we get to find leads, because you know we have meetings but work begins when you go back to the office where we need to follow up to ensure that the people that we have met at the Indaba do bring tourists into the country first, and into our provinces in South Africa.” said the CMO.