SAT engages local trade

SA TOURISM and Asata
have signed a formal
agreement to promote
domestic tourism in South
Africa.
The joint marketing
agreement will focus on
promoting leisure travel
among Asata members
and their corporate
customers, says Asata
ceo, Otto de Vries.
“One of the key tactics
we will be employing as
part of our promotion
efforts is a corporate
roadshow addressing the
benefits of leisure addons
to business travel to
promote staff wellness
and retention.’’
Asata will also work with
SAT to expose agents to
product and destinations
through online
training and first-hand
experiences, and liaise
with tour operators to
create attractive businessleisure
packages that
will appeal to business
travellers, Otto adds.
The agreement
follows the launch of
SAT’s domestic tourism
marketing strategy under
the campaign “A Million
New Experiences are a
Sho’t Left Away”. SAT has
been allocated R100m
a year by government
to encourage domestic
travel.
“There is a new breed
of travellers who are
called ‘bleisure’ travellers
because they put fun
back into business travel
by mixing business
with leisure travel. This
partnership presents the
perfect opportunity for us
at SAT to not only grow
this new trend in our own
country but to continue
entrenching the culture
of travel. We truly believe
that partnering with the
travel industry is the
best way to do so,” says
Margie Whitehouse, SAT
chief marketing officer.