SHORT breaks, touring add-ons and more game park safaris combined with beach holidays are some of the new product appearing in specialist operators’ programmes to South Africa this year. Wine tours and itineraries for gourmet travellers are among other new options. At the lower end of the price scale, Travel 2 has introduced a selection of character bed-and-breakfast guest houses around the Cape Town and Garden Route areas. Increasing popularity of coach tours and flydrives is also reported by companies such as Kuoni and Thomas Cook.
British Airways Holidays
British Airways Holidays has expanded its South African coverage with the addition of two hotels to its programme, Lanzerac Manor and Winery and The Marine Hermanus. Also new is the Kapama Game Reserve.
Prices start at £52 per person per night for Lanzerac Manor and Winery, which is located in the Cape Winelands, just outside Stellenbosch town.
The Marine Hermanus, which has also been added to Carrier’s 2000 itinerary, is the sister hotel to the established Plettenberg and Cellars-Hohenort, and is noted for its views over Walker Bay. Added attractions include whale-watching from July to November. Prices start at £60 per person per night.
Just a short drive from Hoedspruit Airport, with regular flights from Cape Town and Johannesburg, the Kapama Game Reserve offers a luxury lodge or tented accommodation. Unique to Kapama, which is adjacent to the Kruger National Park, is the Hoedspruit Research Centre for Endangered Species, where animals are raised for release into the wild.
Prices for Kapama, from January to October, start from £96 per person per night and include all meals, two game drives and a visit to the research centre.
Kuoni
The emphasis for Kuoni’s South Africa 2000 brochure is on offering customers more flexibility.
Kuoni will be offering three coach tours: the Garden Route tour, a six-night trip, costing £1,029; a Johannesburg-Durban tour and the South African Panorama trip, which, according to Ellis Jones, Kuoni’s product manager for South Africa, is the most popular, appealing in particular to retired professionals.
Carrier
Carrier is hoping to tempt food-lovers this year with the new Gourmet Tour, a 14-night trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town.
The tour includes stopovers at British-born Liz McGrath’s three five-star hotels, famed for their exquisite decor and high-class cuisine.
The Marine Hotel at Hermanuss is the newest addition, located high on the cliffs above a whale-watching bay. The other two stops will be at The Cellars Country House in Constantia, with a Jean Christophe Novelli restaurant, and The Plettenberg Hotel.
Prices range from £1,780 to £2,184, based on twinshare, and include transfers, accommodation and car hire. Meals are not included in the price.
Thomas Cook Holidays
Thomas Cook Holidays reports that despite the coach tragedy of last September, and an industry-wide dip in sales to South Africa towards the end of last year, sales have continued to improve.
Sheena Noakes, product manager for Thomas Cook Holidays’ South Africa programme, said flydrive products, such as the Cape and Garden Route, were increasing in popularity, as were the extensions to Sun City and Victoria Falls.
The 12-day Cape Town and 219-mile Garden Route itinerary takes in the Winelands, the Cango Caves and the coastal highway to Knysna. Prices start from £547 per person, travelling from April 22 to September 22, and are based on two adults sharing. Breakfast and 12 days’ car hire are also included in the price.
The tour operator is also running a special promotion in Cape Town, whereby, between April 1 and September 26, customers can book three nights in the five-star Sun International Table Bay hotel for only £499, compared to £819, saving £320.
The price is inclusive of return flights from Heathrow with South African Airways, shuttle transfers and bed and breakfast.
Travel 2
Demand has prompted Travel 2 to introduced a raft of offers for Cape Town and The Garden Route.
This year, Travel 2 will be offering a new selection of character guest houses with prices from £24 per person per night including breakfast.
Travel 2 is also looking to encourage more mainstream tourism by offering a choice of standard, first class and deluxe accommodation with its tours.
All private game reserves near Kruger National Park will now be featured as two-night ‘fly-in’ packages from Johannesburg, with prices ranging from £383 including return flights, meals, game drives and accommodation.
Other additions include the Botswana a la carte combinations, whereby from £1,086, customers can create four-night packages combining two of four luxury Botswana lodges, operated by Desert andDelta Safaris, with flightsfrom Maun, Victoria Falls or Kasane.
And dolphin watchers can opt for the new three-day Swakopmund packages, which feature two nights combining Namibia’s premier coastal resort with a dolphin cruise and Kuiseb Delta tour.
Somak Holidays
Somak Holidays has added longer tours, itineraries, combination holidays and self-drive options to its 2000 South Africa programme.
Somak Holidays product manager Shafique Cockar said: “Some 90% of clients who have made bookings this year are choosing to join one of our tours, and those which include The Garden Route and Kruger National Park are particularly popular.”
Shorter ‘extras’ have also been added to Somak’s programme, inviting customers to create their own holiday. A three-day, two-night tour of The Garden Route can be added to existing holidays and costs £383 per person.
Proving to be successful in East Africa, combination holidays have been included in Somak’s South African offers. Clients have the option of going to the Seychelles or Mauritius after a safari holiday in Kruger National Park, where Cockar said they can relax on tropical beaches.