The South African (SA) Tourism plans to ride the World Cup bandwagon this year to double the tourist inflow from Gujarat. In this,it will be helped by the South African Airways. On Saturday,the S A Tourism organised a roadshow at Pride Hotel in Ahmedabad where the official mascot of the FIFA World Cup 2010,Zakumi,was introduced to the city. Similar events have already been held in Mumbai,Chennai and Delhi earlier this week. Last year,of the 52,637 Indian tourists in South Africa,five per cent were from Gujarat. In view of the growing popularity of South Africa among Gujarati tourists,S A Tourism has decided to rope in tour operators from Surat and Vadodara, said Medha Sampat,India Head of SA Tourism,at the roadshow. She said the soccer extravaganza would attract a large number of enthusiasts from all over the world,including many from India. With average spending per trip per head being around 16,000 Rands (INR 7,000) by Indian tourists,SA Tourism values Indian tourists as its prime visitors,according to Sampat. She said the volume of tourism business from India to South Africa grew by 18 per cent in 2009. Soon SA Tourism will launch a new programme Learn South Africa for the Indian travel market using audio-visual tools by experienced staff, said Sampat. The programme will be available in Ahmedabad,Surat,Mumbai,Delhi,Bangalore,Hyderabad,Kochin,Chennai,Kolkata,Chandigarh,Nagpur and Pune,she said. Sampat said South Africa continued to be an attractive and exotic destination for Indian tourists with the result that the tourist flow went up from 44,578 in October 2008 to 52,637 till October 2009. From the time we opened our office in India in 2005,we have only seen an upward growth with tourist arrivals increasing each year clearly a sign of our effective marketing and promotion efforts, she said. Adding to this growth is the catalytic role played by the Gandhi tourism circuit developed by African Link Tours. The managing director of the company is also in the board of directors of Gandhi Committee. Bunny Bhoola of African Link Tours said the Committee was launched two years ago. We are embarking on a project to set up a Gandhi library with contribution from the Government of India, she said.
