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LOCAL TOURISTS ARE BECOMING MORE ADVENTUROUS Local tourists, accounting for approximately 45% of total tourism figures, are becoming increasingly discerning, more adventurous and are opting for shorter vacations more frequently. These are just some of the trends emerging from an analysis conducted by South Africa’s leading holiday broker, Optima. "Number of bookings are generally 30% up month on month compared to last year, but the stay are shorter", says Rioma Cominelli, managing director of Optima. Capetonians are heading towards Sedgefield, the west coast, Knysna, PE and East London as opposed to regions outside of the Cape. While Durbanites are going up or down the coast or to the Drakensburg. She adds that consumers are also becoming more discerning and looking for different experiences. "So your "obvious" holiday venues like Cape Town and Durban are coming up against competition for more unusual destinations such as Eastern Transvaal and Zimbabwe. Out of season periods are also more popular, with holidays been broken into shorter periods and spread out during the year. "This is positive for a lot of resorts and even for a city
like Cape Town which tends to suffer out of season. However, the
region has so much more than beaches to offer and winter can be
a wonderful time for visiting the She also stresses the need for a less regionalised approach to tourism. "South Africa should look at itself as a total holiday destination competing for the global tourist rand. "Lack of sharing between tourist authorities in the various
regions is not healthy. If Cape Town is the premier destination
then it should be used to hook visitors and draw them to the many
and rich attractions elsewhere in Cominelli believes that this national effort, together with the ongoing crime busting campaign and a coordinated public relations effort to build the image and awareness of the variety offered by South Africa should be key elements of any tourism drive.
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