SOUTH Africa is hoping to increase its UK visitor numbers by muscling in on the UK market to Australia.
South African Tourism UK country manager Lebo Mokhesi said to boost the number of UK visitors from 469,000 last year to its target of half a million this year, the country must be remarketed as a year-round destination and its natural diversity and product range needs to be highlighted.
However, she admitted with a budget of £1 million to spend on trade marketing and £700,000 to spend on direct marketing, the tourism board has its work cut out.
She said: “We don’t have as much money to market ourselves as Australia does, and we know at the moment UK customers look at Australia before considering South Africa. However, we feel we can be a threat to Australia.”
The diversity of the destination means it can attract large numbers of repeat visitors as customers return to explore different areas, she said.
To this end the marketing drive will push the lesser-known areas including the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga East, which are all rich in natural beauty and wildlife.
She added that following talks with South African Airways, the carrier has agreed to drop its winter prices to boost business at that time of year, while British Airways is expected to follow suit this month.
Meanwhile, advertising campaigns will run in both trade and national press from now until next March to highlight the country’s diversity and to attract more winter customers than the current 35,000 arriving each month.
Mokhesi added: “We will also show people South Africa is not that expensive. We will push the three and four-star properties which offer the service and product that can match anything internationally.”
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