Ten top executives from the business travel industry in India are currently being hosted in Cape Town and the Western Cape.
These key players in the Indian market are all either CEOs or MDs of the top performing companies in their sector with most experiencing Cape Town and the Western Cape for the first time.
Their experience there and in the rest country was made possible through a partnership between South African Tourism
(SAT), tour operator ERM Tours and Emirates.
“It is with great pride that we welcome these very important decision-makers to our destination. This visit demonstrates the level of awareness that the Indian market holds for Cape Town and the Western Cape. Also, it is a direct outcome of hosting the IPL Cricket Tournament last year: our destination benefits long after the closing ceremony,” Calvyn Gilfellan, CEO of Cape Town Routes Unlimited.
Their visit comes directly after a group of Indian buyers explored the destination last month after Meetings Africa, the continent’s premier industry tradeshow. Gilfellan, who attended the Asia-Pacific Incentive and Meetings Expo (AIME) in Melbourne earlier this year, noticed increased interest from the Indian Market.
“The same happened at GIBTM, the leading tradeshow for the Gulf and Middle East, where we received many inquiries from Indian buyers, compared to previous years,” added Gilfellan, who met with the delegation last Friday.
“This trip has been a real eye opener for these buyers. All of them save one is visiting here for the first time. They are absolutely stunned by what they are experiencing and very impressed with our facilities,” says Medha Sampat, SAT’s Country Head for India.
According to Hannes Boshoff, General Manager of ERM Tours, it is a great pleasure hosting these buyers, whose enthusiasm for Cape Town is nearly infectious. “These are the top brass of the Indian business tourism market, who are excited at the prospect of going back to India and selling the destination. Two of them said that Cape Town is their favourite city in the world.”
“Discussions mainly revolved around the upcoming World Cup. The buyers indicated that though Cape Town is an easy sell, they are having a hard time selling packages for the tournament. There seems to be a lot of interest for the period after the World Cup, supporting the notion that business tourism will sustain the industry post World Cup,” says Deborah Damant, Manager Destination Marketing: Leisure, Events & 2010, after her interaction with the group.
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