South African Airways unveils holiday brochure for the Middle East

The South African Airways Holidays brochure launch, one of the most eagerly anticipated events in the travel industry calendar, was a resounding success this year, playing host to a full-house of over 530 key decision makers from the travel industry in the Middle East.

A fashion show by 20 contestants selected from over 640 applicants from the 6000 plus travel professionals in UAE marked the official launch of the 'Next Stop South Africa with an extension to Southern Africa' product.

20 contestants walked the ramp in front of a fully charged audience until after midnight, were competing for 3 coveted titles, Face of South African Airways, Miss South African Airways and Mr. South African Airways.

'Next Stop South Africa with an extension to Southern Africa' is a comprehensive holiday and destination guide which has been designed to meet the requirements of the discerning traveler from the Middle East.

The brochure has extensive information on South Africa and Southern Africa. Countries featured in the brochure include, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Swaziland and Mauritius. Anyone wishing to explore the South or Southern African kaleidoscope of history, culture, and scenic beauty will find their dream vacation among the array of itineraries presented in this brochure.

Options to tailor packages to cater to people's budget, number of days, properties as well as interest are also available.

Along with the Next Stop South Africa with an extension to Southern Africa holidays print brochure, SAA also launched www.flysaaholidays.com the online leisure portal for South African Airways Middle East.

Commenting during the launch function of the brochure Ms. Ilse Kaya, SAA Head of Sales Market South Africa, Africa and the Middle East, indicated that there is clear evidence that Africa, especially South Africa and Southern Africa, is gaining in popularity as a tourist destination within the Middle East.

The 'Next Stop South Africa with an extension to Southern Africa' holiday brochure will therefore play an important role in providing further useful information to a market that is hungry to explore new destinations.

'As the national carrier, South African Airways knows Africa better than anybody. We are pleased to present the second edition of the holiday brochure in partnership with various stakeholders in the travel industry and customers. I would like to take this opportunity to thank those stakeholders who made this brochure a reality for the second time and convey my appreciation to the travel trade in the Middle East who has embraced the product with both hands,' added Kaya.

'The brochure will give insight into what South Africa and Southern Africa has to offer. With the launch of this 2009/2010 brochure, South African Airways is committed to offer holiday makers, not only in UAE, but in the Middle East the best holiday options that one can experience in South Africa,' she added.

Rajendran Vellapalath, SAA Manager Middle East, said:

'We're extremely excited to introduce the 2009/2010 brochure for holiday makers in the Middle East after the resounding success of last year's brochure. A great deal of research and effort went into creating this unique offering. We realized that there is a demand among the consumers in the Middle East for a product featuring South Africa and Southern Africa, which wasn't served adequately.'

It is not just a new catalogue or a destination guide, it is a brochure which anybody interested in visiting the undiscovered beauty of Africa, will want to read and refer to. From itineraries ranging from a minimum of three days to 17 days, this brochure has everything that a traveler needs to plan an ideal holiday in South Africa with an extension to Southern Africa.

'The brochure is designed to resemble a miniature of what South Africa and Southern Africa has to offer and encourages travellers to contact our offices or the nearest travel agent to explore more options through tailor made packages and make their next stop in South Africa with an extension to Southern Africa,' said Rajendran during the brochure launch function.

Designed to be a comprehensive holiday and destination guide, the new brochure includes country-by-country overviews, a 'must see and do' section for each destination, various holiday options and detailed itineraries. The itineraries within the brochure ensure a range of three, four and five star hotels at competitive prices to help select the perfect holiday.

In addition, the car rental partners offer a wide choice of cars in all locations, reliability and award winning service to offer travellers the freedom to drive anywhere and discover South Africa and Southern Africa.

www.flysaaholidays.com is focused on adding unique value for our travel industry partners. This value comes from easy, customer-friendly itineraries, destination information backed by the entire digitized Next Stop South Africa with an extension to Southern Africa holidays brochure content.

www.flysaaholidays.com is made as an easy to use one-stop source for visitors both the trade and end users to research and plan their holiday to South Africa with an extension to Southern Africa, said Rajendran Vellapalath.

Highlights of some of the programmes in the brochure include city breaks and day tours featuring all major cities and attractions, long and short breaks keeping families in mind, self-drive packages, itineraries involving Golf, Luxury rail travel, MICE, wellness packages, adventure holidays, to name a few.

On offer are flexible, affordable and quality holidays with more than 100 itineraries to choose in South Africa and Southern Africa. Many of the itineraries in the brochure are destination led and appeals to a customer looking for a short or a long break.

South African Airways' revamped holiday packages in the brochure take advantage of the airline's massive expansion drive in Africa, which has seen the launch of new destinations over the past 18 months as well as increased frequencies to many destinations across the airline's growing network in Africa.

SAA currently has code share agreements with Emirates on its three daily flights between Dubai and Johannesburg, on its daily flights to Cape Town from Dubai; with Egypt Air on its daily flights from Cairo to Johannesburg and with Saudi Arabian Airlines on its two flights per week from Jeddah to Johannesburg.

This is in addition to SAA's strategic alliances with carriers operating from all points in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Jordan, to connect with code share flights from the Middle East.