AS PART of its ongoing South-east Asia roadshow, the Africa Showcase 2015 were in Singapore yesterday to meet with the trade and promote travel interest to South Africa.

Johannesburg-based On Show Solutions, an events company, together with South Africa’s National Department of Tourism hosted the showcase.

Exhibitors including South African Airways, South African Tourism, Cango Caves, Private Safaris, Rainbow Tourism Group, Rovos Rail, Thompson Gateway and Sunlux Collection by Sun International were brought in to feature their products.

Hazel Ngubeni, high commissioner of South African High Commission Singapore, mentioned in her speech that tourists arrival numbers have dropped due to the Ebola situation in Africa.

“We are experiencing a drop in visitor arrivals due to the Ebola scare in the past year. What many people don’t realise is that the epidemic is in West Africa and we (South Africa) hasn’t seen a single case of Ebola,” she said.

She added that she hopes to see the National Department of Tourism working closely with local travel agencies to organise fam trips.

When questioned about whether the showcase is exclusively catered to South African destinations, Ngubeni explained that they want to package the whole of Africa as a travel destination instead of just focusing on South Africa.

“We hope to encourage tourists to come visit South Africa and, at the same time, travel to other parts of Africa as well. There are waterfalls, wildlife and mountains as well as a range of activities that they can experience,” she added.

The Africa Showcase will next be in Jakarta on August 20, and followed by Russia, Ukraine, the US, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, before ending in Australia and New Zealand.

Reporting by Samuel Ng

ADELAIDE is gearing up to launch an extensive campaign in South-east Asia early next year to spotlight the city as an appealing destination that is on par with other major cities in Australia.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily, Rodney Harrex, South Australia Tourism Commission’s chief executive, said: “There is a need for us to raise awareness about our destination because there is so much we can offer but no one knows about it.”

Highlighting Adelaide as Australia’s wine capital, where 74 per cent of the country’s wine exports originate, Harrex said: “This is where all the premium wine come from and we have a lot of experiential offerings to provide with that.”

“There has also been a lot of changes in the city over the past few years like new hotels, restaurants and bars that inject a lot of energy into the city,” he added.

As the “gateway to the Outback”, Harrex pointed out that Kangaroo Island, which is a 30-minute flight from Adelaide, is the best place in Australia to see native animals in a wild coastal setting.

While acknowledging that first-time visitors to Australia are typically lured to main cities like Sydney and Melbourne, Harrex commented that Adelaide will offer “new things” for repeat visitors.

Dana Urmonas, regional director, South-east Asia and India at South Australia Tourism Commission, declined to provide further details about the campaign as it is still in its planning stages, but revealed that the overall budget allocated for Malaysia and Singapore this financial year is approximately A$1 million (US$0.7 million).

According to Urmonas, Adelaide’s top visitor arrivals from the Asian markets are China, India, Malaysia and Singapore.

Come December this year, Adelaide will also play host to Australia’s largest business events showcase – Dreamtime 2015.

TO DATE, some 500 buyer registrations from 61 countries across 6 continents have applied to attend ATF 2016, with 100 of these buyers already being offered a hosting position.

The geographies show that procurement sources come not only from established markets like USA, UK, China, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia, but also from Central Asia, Eastern European and African regions including Azerbaijan, Estonia, Ghana, Lebanon, Monaco, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine, that have a growing interest for ASEAN destinations. Organisers and the Host Committee are also targeting buyers from top potential outbound markets such as Germany, Scandinavia and United Arab Emirates.

Procurement and business objectives across all buyer applicants have been diverse. Anthony Hill, Founding Director of Adventure Travel, Australia is “looking to expand our partnerships with local DMCs and Suppliers from across the ASEAN region”, while Antonie Noens, Managing Director of Easy Tours, Belgium is most interested in “Thailand, Indochina and Indonesia, as well as service providers who can provide incentive deals.”

Another 300 hosting places will be accorded to eligible applicants over the coming weeks.

Click here to see who our buyer applicants want to meet. Book a booth now before the early bird promotion ends on September 15, 2015.

For more information about exhibiting, email atfsellers@ttgasia.com or visit www.atfphilippines.com/Exhibitor.php.

TRAVEL agencies from the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) region are being offered a chance to win a five-day trip to Singapore as well as tickets to the Singapore Formula One Singapore Airlines Grand Prix in a new contest launched by global travel distributor GTA.

To participate, submit a 30-second video promoting Singapore’s lesser-known appeals instead of the usual attractions.

GTA will choose 10 winners based on the variety and uniqueness of their destination insights and pay for them to visit Singapore to recreate their videos over five days. Winners will also get a three-day premier walkabout access to the F1 night race.

The top 10 most-liked videos will also each receive an Apple Watch with accessories. Travel consultants wishing to sign up for the contest can do so at www.mysingaporehiddengems.com.

AS MANY as 23 countries have issued travel advisories to Thailand a day after a bombing at Erawan Shrine, a popular tourist destination in Bangkok, killed at least 20 and injured more than 125 others.

Most advisories are urging caution rather than an outright ban. Issuing level 2 advisories – meaning to take extra care during travel – are 12 countries, namely Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the US.

Level 3 advisories, meaning to take an even greater level of care during travel, were the next most common with nine nations issuing the order. They include Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand, Russia and the UK.

The Netherlands issued a level 1 advisory, urging its citizens to merely be aware of the ongoing situation in Thailand.

Hong Kong on the other hand, issued a high level 4 advisory, the second highest alert possible for the nation, asking its citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to the kingdom.

The Philippines issued no travel advisories, with the Department of Foreign Affairs saying they needed more time before making a decision.

ENSURING tourist safety is a key priority for authorities who have strengthened security measures across Bangkok and at key tourist destinations in the wake of Monday’s deadly bombing, said Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, Thailand’s minister for tourism and sports.

“The first priority is not (ascertaining) whether the number of tourists will drop, but ensuring their safety,” she said. “(Currently), we are not safe and sound.”

The minister added that security has been ramped up at some 80 points across Bangkok including at airports around the country.

However, she was also unable to specify specific measures being taken to prevent a raft of travel advisories and warnings being issued by foreign governments, a key concern for the trade.

Kobkarn acknowledged that the Tourism Authority of Thailand have received confirmed cancellations since the bombing, mostly from families and FITs. No major groups have pulled out though some have postponed their trips.

“The country is bigger than Ratchaprasong and there are plenty of other places for visitors to go,” she said, adding that the governor of Phuket had confirmed no group cancellations there.

The minister also avoided directly answering how a major downturn in arrivals from China would affect the trade and Thailand’s economy, given the fact that some analysts believe the attacks may have specifically targeted Chinese tourists who currently account for more than one-quarter of the country’s international arrivals and expenditure.

She conceded that visitors from Hong Kong however, one of the most lucrative source markets in terms of daily expenditure per head, were unlikely to come to Bangkok in the near term.

It will probably take a few weeks before tourism authorities are able to predict how the blast would affect arrivals in the longer term. “We cannot give a figure now, it is too soon,” said Kobkarn. “However, if you ask me what the arrivals will be for the year, I will say it has to be (at the current target of) 28.2 million.”

Tourists from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore were among the 22 killed with at least 125 more injured.

The Thai government will be compensating the injured and families of those who died through its 200 million baht (US$5.6 million) Tourism Support Fund.