Those who say, “Seeing is believing”, are very right. Though the statement is commonplace, I truly realized the import during my recent visit to South Africa. No matter one’s marketing skills, you need to experience a product in order to promote or convince others to patronize it.
This is the rationale for the SA Specialist programme, which South African Tourism (SAT) has hosted over a decade now.
Formerly called Fundi until three years ago when it was revamped, SA Specialist is an online learning platform designed to teach people in the travel trade about South Africa; its cultural heritage, tourism offerings and among others.
After the theories comprising two online courses that must be passed, some of the graduate winners are taken to an incentive hosting during the graduation ceremony in order to have firsthand experience of what they have learnt online to enable them promote and sell the tourism offerings of South Africa passionately.
This year, SAT hosted over 30 graduate winners from Nigeria and Ghana across three provinces of the ‘Rainbow Country’ including; Gauteng, Free State and Western Cape.
It was an awesome experience for the West Africa SA Specialists who traversed the length and breadth of the three provinces for practical feel and taste of the tourism offerings, cultures, wildlife, lifestyle, adventures, luxury among others experiences.
Starting from the hassle-free travel arrangement, especially visa, smooth flight to a colorful welcome at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, the trip truly offered a series of fantastic South African experiences.
While Gauteng Province seems to be more visited and known by the West Africans, especially Johannesburg, the commercial and largest city in the country, Sandton, the rich suburb and Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa, the host decided to offer the team a wonderful experience in a seemingly less visited province by West Africans.
Of course, Tefo Legobate, our tour guide, who took over from the airport, was fantastic and vast in his knowledge of his beloved country. He made the three-four hours journey by road to Clarens, explaining points of interests, cultures and history of locals along the way amidst soft jokes.
Clarens, according to him, is a very tranquil destination that carters to the interests of the old and young. From the two imposing mountains that open up the city from the front and protect is from behind, Clarens is a sheer beauty with great scenic views courtesy of the mountains ranges that stretch to Lesotho.
However, the sleepy town lived up to Legobate’s claims from an exciting stay at Protea Hotel Clarens to relaxation of the nerves with Spa treatments. The team had wonderful experience at the Clarens Xtreme for zip line, and later the daring white river rafting where the more adventurous had adrenalin rush.
The fun at Free State Province continued with scenic drive to the Golden Gate National Park, which featured breathtaking and undulating landscape. The fun was heightened on spotting wildlife along the road and taking pictures amid the scenic landscape. But meeting Basotho People and having lunch with them at the cultural village within the National Park was the height of the excitement.
As well, driving down to Bloemfontein, the capital of Free State Province was exciting. A trip to the city is not complete without visiting the Naval Hill, where a huge statue of Nelson Mandela stands and overlooks the entire city. The history of the city as told by our tour guide while on our way to Bram Fischer International Airport to catch a flight to Cape Town is for another day.
But the mother of all fun for most of the team members was the grand arrival they received in Cape Town. Shortly after the arrival at the Cape Town International Airport, they had grand entry into the city tagged ‘Mother City’ on over 30 power bikes, especially Harley Davidson. From the airport to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, where they stopped, passersby and city dwellers alike knew some important visitors were in town. It was wild fun, hugging the rough-looking riders to maintain balance all through the 15 minutes ride.
The fun continued on the Cape Town Big Ring Ride, which rolled up to a height where the occupants could see the whole city on bird’s eye view, even as far as Table Mountain.
The hospitality offerings heightened from Protea Clarens to Westin Cape Town, a five-star property managed by the Marriot International.
An evening at Victoria and Alfred Waterfront was complemented with a visit to Two Oceans Aquarium, where the team got a lot closer to marine world and life beneath the oceans. Night life was a whole lot of fun in Cape Town, especially on Long Street, a hub for night crawlers.
For the adventurous, taking control of a Quad bike for a tour of the Winelands was a highlight, while wine-tasting and fun filled afternoon at Retanga Junction in the Winelands relaxed the nerves after the adrenalin filled quad bike tour.
City tour of the city on Big Bus Tours was exciting as the double deck tourist bus fitted with audio and language translation devices meandered through the beautiful attractions across the city up to the Table Mountain to the exclusive rich neighborhood where people from across the world own luxury properties amid the imposing ocean and open shore.
It was difficult to say bye to Cape Town, especially after a day at Pepper Club, a hotel that offers cinema, rooms with better views of the Table Mountain and lots more.
Having experienced the offerings at Free State and Western Cape provinces, Gauteng offered even more fun. The province’s Lesedi Cultural Village offered a wonderful experience for the visitors, from cultural performances, historical class, dining to catching up with the locals. The province also offered many of the team members (if not all) the opportunity to touch lions for the first time ever at the Lions Park. It was exciting taking pictures with lions, seeing giraffe and other wildlife walk lazily across the road or besides the fortified tourist van.
Besides Lesedi and the lions, Gauteng has more than enough offerings, especially city life. The Mandela Square at Sandton is one attraction that visitors to the rich suburb and shoppers the shopping mall always identify with because of the Mandela statue overlooking the restaurants and welcoming visitors and shoppers alike.
Of course,The Maslow, a five-star property managed by Sun International, is among the many hospitality outfits that offer world class facilities and offerings that aid good night and day rests.
Away from city life, a visit to Soweto opens another chapter of fun. It is the largest township in South Africa and hosts the residents of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, two Noble Laureates on Vilakazi Street. The two is famous for museums, local craft, history among others. Lately, world class restaurants have surfaced, offering quality food and drink menu amid local dance group performances.
At the end of the one week trip and experiences of the many offerings, the team of SA Specialists have vastly improve their ability to sell South Africa as a tourist destination, especially skilled at assisting would-be visitors or their clients in compiling ever-more attractive travel packages.
What an awesome and experiential encounter.
