The mission, titled the Learn South Africa Roadshow, is a first for South African tourism industry leaders to visit the Middle East in this format.

The delegation travelled to five cities across the region between November 19 - 25, with the roadshow providing a valuable platform for strategic connections and engagements, which included briefing sessions and one to one meetings where South Africa’s diverse tourist offerings will be showcased.

Hosted by South African Tourism, the roadshow took place in Iran (Tehran), the UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi), Kuwait (Kuwait City) and Saudi Arabia (Jeddah).

The Learn South Africa Roadshow is one of the ways that South African Tourism is planning to achieve its 5-in-5 strategic goal to attract four million more international tourist arrivals and one million more domestic holiday trips by 2021.

“As part of our 5-in-5 strategy, we are continuously looking for ways to position South Africa as a destination brand, and make it recognisable, resilient and attractive to all markets, said Hanneli Slabber, regional general manager, Asia/Australasia/Middle East, South Africa Toruism.

“We enjoy a high number of visitors from the region, and we have outstanding business and leisure opportunities for the Middle East segment and we consider it a valuable spot for our Learn South Africa programme. With a similar time-zone, Halal and Muslim-friendly locations and potential for more inward tourism from an under-served Middle East market, we are well poised for an even stronger tourism foothold, added Slabber.

South African Tourism received an overwhelming response from those who were keen to exhibit at the roadshow.