BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE– The 2023 edition of the World Travel Market (WTM) Africa held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (ICC) from April 3 to April 5 yielded rewarding outcomes for Eswatini’s tourism industry.
Attending shows such as WTM Africa continues to present the country with lucrative opportunities for staying in touch with tour operators, buyers, and travel writers from the region and abroad.
It is a credible platform for sharing industry best practices amongst members of the tourism industry where different speakers unpack the latest trends in the tourism landscape.
Worth noting is that Eswatini was among the 49 countries that graced this year’s session while new countries among the buyers included Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Romania, Omani, Austrian, and Thailand, among others.
The Eswatini Tourism Authority (ETA) secured a stand at the show to market Eswatini to participating buyers. As a result, ETA secured over 40 tour operators, buyers, travel agents and travel writers on both pre-scheduled appointments and non-scheduled ones.
Eswatini stand was co-shared by eight tourism establishment representatives from Eswatini who enjoyed between 20 and 30 appointments, making the Eswatini stand a hive of activity during the three days show.
Members of the industry present were Foresters Arms Hotel, Happy Valley Hotel, Emafini Country Lodge, Mantenga Lodge, Nkonyeni Golf Estate, Piggs Peak Hotel, The Royal Villas, Big Game Parks, and Eswatini Air.
Additionally, WTM Africa serves as an incredible forum for generating sales leads, unveiling new products, exploring new markets and improving brand awareness to relevant audiences, all while keeping up with the latest developments from competitors.
Forums like WTM Africa also enhance tourism market research for destination marketers and buyers alike and help Eswatini and other participating countries establish new relationships while maintaining existing ones.
Meanwhile, a study record on the Eswatini Explore pages showed that this year, the show saw an impressive 35 percent increase of exhibitors who were 577 in total.
According to the report, the number of buyers and tour operators reached an excess of 400 with 63 percent of them being new buyers participating in the WTM for the first time.
ETA’s Head of Marketing, Sboniso Madlopha, emphasised that Eswatini’s participation in this year’s WTM Africa was a resounding success and a much-needed opportunity to engage Eswatini source markets and emerging markets.
“We were able to meet key buyers from our source markets in Europe and across the region where we presented our calendar of activities for them to identify the best times to visit Eswatini so that they enjoy cultural showcases, wildlife excursions and the unparalleled scenic splendors which all appealed to the buyers.
“Commonly asked questions included visa requirements, travel restrictions and access to Eswatini,” said Madlopha.
Meanwhile sharing her experience from her stand was Bongekile Fakudze, Marketing Coordinator at Happy Valley Hotel.
She said everything went according to plan and people showed a great interest in wanting to spend time at the Happy Valley Hotel.
“The show was a huge success; we were able to connect with key tour operators and buyers who showed great interest in bringing tourists to spend time at the Happy Valley Hotel. “Shows such as this one add incredible value to the industry’s marketing efforts aimed at bringing tourists to Eswatini. We urge emaSwati to continue displaying their hospitable spirit when tourists visit Eswatini so that they can sell their experiences to others thus sustaining the industry and the jobs attached to it, ” she said.
Pics sourced from Eswatini Tourism.
