SAA, tour operators ink pact to promote tourism

South African Airways (SAA) recently held a Tour Consultants Product Training workshop aimed at promoting key SAA holiday destinations and the Voyager loyalty programme.

The event, which took place at the Movenpick Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos, was an exclusive engagement with leading tour operators and destination marketing practitioners.

The Airline’s Country Manager, Mrs. Kemi Leke-Bamtefa, said, “SAA prides itself as an African Network carrier, connecting passengers and cargo to South Africa and Points beyond Johannesburg. Our network keeps expanding with seamless connections into Harare, Lusaka, Windhoek, Dar es Salaam, Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, and long-haul routes like Sao Paulo and Perth.

Furthermore, the Country Manager revealed further that the airline is currently looking at ways of promoting inbound tourism into Nigeria via its Johannesburg – Lagos route. To this end, SAA is forging ties with the Nigerian Association of Tour Operators (NATOP) with plans to host destination marketing events across various routes on its network in an effort to showcase the country’s vibrant tourism attractions and promote Nigeria as a destination of interest to the world.

The President of NATOP, Mrs. Bolaji Mustapha, welcomed the development and expressed delight in partnering with SAA to boost inbound tourism to the country. “Nigeria is blessed with several beautiful tourism sites and destinations with rich history and culture, which initiatives such as this would go a long way to offer visitors a chance to explore and enjoy. Leisure activities and a variety of festivals also abound across the country all year round, which we can package and sell to visitors from around the world,d such as the Calabar Festival or Dirty December, to mention a few,” she said.

Wole Shadare