South African Airways (SAA) has reached out to the Nigerian Association of Tour Operators (NATOP) to forge a partnership that will showcase the country’s vibrant tourism attractions to the world, in a bid to boost inbound tourism to Nigeria.
This initiative is part of SAA’s efforts to promote Nigeria as a destination of interest to global travellers, leveraging its Johannesburg-Lagos route to attract visitors from around the world.
SAA recently held a Tour Consultants Product Training workshop aimed at promoting key SAA holiday destinations and the Voyager loyalty programme.
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The event, which took place at the Movenpick Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos, was an exclusive engagement with leading tour operators and destination marketing practitioners.
Kemi Leke-Bamtefa, the Airline’s Country Manager, 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 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.
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Bolaji Mustapha, the President of NATOP, welcomed the development and expressed delight in partnering with SAA to boost inbound tourism to the country.
“Nigeria is blessed with a number of 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 such as the Calabar Festival or Dirty December to mention a few,” she said.
South African Airways currently flies four times weekly out of Lagos to Johannesburg on Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with seamless connections to points beyond.
