Southern Africa 360 Managing Director, Collin Thaver said: “We are looking forward to working with the team at Global Destinations and seeing this partnership as our endorsement of growing our B2B market share and offerings to the greater Indian market wanting to visit not only South Africa but the Southern Africa region.”

Global Destinations Founder, Pranav Kapadia said: “We are excited to be partnering with Southern Africa 360 and that Global Destinations have been seeking to find the correct partner to represent this region for a while. He is also excited to be adding this region to their portfolio of destination offerings and together with his team they are looking forward to the start of this new business venture.”

Global Destinations are one of India’s leading representation & marketing companies in the Indian travel, tourism and hospitality sector. Global Destinations Head Office is based in Mumbai with four additional Branch Offices and Resident Managers  across India that you will be able to contact, these offices are based in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Kolkata & Delhi. You can find contact details for Global Destinations here.  

Christina Aitiwadekar based at Global Destinations Head Office in Mumbai, will be taking over as Southern Africa 360’s new Product Head, she will be working closely with our reservations and marketing team to coordinate all aspects of our sales efforts and marketing activities related to the destinations we sell within Southern Africa to the Indian market. She is excited work directly with you.

Here is what she has to say about her experience of travelling and representing Southern Africa:

“I love to travel because not only is it the ultimate adventure but it also exposes you to new types of people, different ways of living, and opens up your mind. Africa is a world of its own. A lot of travellers only think about visiting Kenya and/or South Africa when they think about the continent, but there’s so many different countries, cultures, traditions and history to discover. As such Southern Africa has more than just safari to offer, for one its natural beauty that you can’t believe until you see it. There’s an array of adventure waiting for travelers all over the Southern Africa region. The beaches are idyllic, the drives along the countryside are breathtaking and unspoiled wilderness. For me to be selling Southern Africa is a dream come true and what better than begin able to help people to explore this awesome once in a lifetime destination.”

We are excited to welcome Christina and Global Destinations to our team and are looking forward to working closely with them. This new partnership between Southern Africa 360 and Global Destinations is showing promosing results even at this early stage! With both forces joining into this new challenge and with the ambition of addressing a broader range of clients with specific packages, both companies hold the key to promoting Southern Africa in the Indian market and offering travellers something new and fresh.

If you would like to find out more about us, what we offer or how we can help you to sell more holidays to Southern Africa, please contact us or you can contact Christina directly.

The post Meet The Team – Christina Aitiwadekar from Global Destinations appeared first on Southern Africa 360.

Mark Young, a director of Perfections of Africa, based in the UK, will personally be leading and working with our reservations and marketing team, coordinating all aspects of our sales efforts and marketing activities related to the destinations we sell within Southern Africa to the UK market. Mark is an expert in selling and packaging Southern Africa and is the prefect fit for us at SA 360. Mark understands the competitive UK market and we be able to take to market our unique and exciting experiences.

Read further to see what Mark has to say about his travels throughout Southern Africa:

“Seeing a lion on my very first safari in Namibia, watching the red sun set while camping in Botswana, floating gently above the animals in a hot air balloon in Zambia, getting caught in a Sand storm in Zimbabwe and drinking delicious red wine in South Africa, are just a few of the reasons I love Africa. My passion for travel begin in 2005 when I backpacked with a friend from university for four months around Eastern Europe, this experience brought a love of travel that I did not know existed within. From 2008 to 2009 I picked up my bag again and travelled around the world crossing through India, South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand, before finishing in South America. It was during this trip that I knew a career in the travel industry was for me.”

Over the past 10 years Mark has worked for companies such as Rickshaw Travel, Trail Finders, Hayes & Jarvis and Discover the World, holding positions from Sales Consultant for Africa, Product & Marketing Executive, Destination Manager of East & Southern Africa and Product Manager of Africa, as well as being Product Manager for Latin America and Polar regions. Earlier this year Mark was delighted to be offered the opportunity to become a partner in the South African based representation company, Perfections of Africa, by Ryan Ashton the company’s founder. Ryan’s role was to launch and run the UK office with the aim of giving African based tourism operators permanent exposure in Africa’s largest tourism source market, the UK.

We are excited to welcome Mark to the team and are looking forward to this new partnership between Southern Africa 360 and Perfections of Africa, which is already showing results and generating promising sales with a small number of identified wholesalers. With both forces joining into this new challenge and with the ambition of addressing a broader range of clients with specific packages, both companies hold the key to promoting Southern Africa in the UK market and offering travellers something new and fresh.

If you would like to find out more about us, what we offer or how we can help you to sell more holidays to Southern Africa, please contact us or you can contact Mark directly.

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As we acknowledge Youth Month in South Africa throughout June, we had the opportunity to take stock of our Youth Development Programme within Southern Africa 360 and how we are contributing to the development of young people and small businesses in the Tourism Industry. As a growing small business and managed by husband and wife team Nikki and Collin Thaver, not only are we Fair Trade Tourism approved, we are classified as being a 100% black owned business and are renowned for supporting other small black owned businesses. These are a strong driving points within the day to day DNA on how we do business. Southern Africa 360 has also dedicated themselves to the empowerment of young people and the need to employee and develop females in the tourism industry. In September 2018 we employed our first two Interns to join our growing team and we set out to teach them the much needed skills to empower them in a working environment. These interns were, Taryn Myburgh who has since joined our team full time and is responsible for all things Marketing related at Southern Africa 360 and Mckayla Isaacs who joined us as a Tour Co-ordinator and now promoted to Junior Tour Consultant and who has since grown from assisting our consultants with bookings to sending out her own quotes to agents and managing the day-to-day operations of our clients. Nikki Thaver says “We have watched these two young ladies grow and develop themselves both in a career sense as well as on a personal level and are very proud of their accomplishments”. Taryn feels a lot more confident with her abilities and is enjoying learning new skills in a dynamic environment and has found that tourism is her calling. Mckayla is pleased with her progress thus far and is looking forward to her future growth within the Tourism industry and her time with the SA360 team. Since hiring Taryn and Mckayla and assisting them to develop themselves towards reaching their full potential we are pleased to announce that at the start of Youth Month i.e. June 2019 we have taken on two additional fresh Tourism Interns, from a college in the same area, to join our team. Ammaarah Samaai and Stephanie Sauls. “These two young ladies are both fresh out of college and have been taken on as Tour Co-ordinators and will work alongside our Senior Tour Consultants inorder to groom them and teach them the ins and outs of our business. These 2 ladies will be with us for 18 months and during this time we hope to not only teach but help skill them to becoming fully fledged Junior Tour Consultants. We wish all these young ladies all the best as they work themselves into becoming the next tourism leaders” stated Collin Thaver.

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At the southern tip of Africa, where two of the world's greatest oceans converge, a total experience of land, sea and the rainbow culture of the Western Cape offer you the most exciting whale watching venues in the world! South Africa is one of the best destinations worldwide for watching marine wildlife, whether from land, boat or plane you can expect spectacular annual visits from southern right and humpback whales and enormous pods of dolphins.

Every year, southern right whales migrate from their icy feeding grounds off Antarctica to warmer climates, reaching South Africa in June. The country’s coastal waters teem with the giant animals, mating, calving and rearing their young, the peak calving season is July and August. The animals, often mere meters from the shore, provide unsurpassed whale watching opportunities between June and November offering spectacular displays of raw power and elegant water acrobatics. Humpbacks migrate through the region between May and December each year, while Bryde's whales are found slightly further offshore all year round.

Good land based whale spotting can be done along the entire Cape Whale Route, this 900-kilometre-long stretch of whale watching coastline starts along the south of Cape Town and extends to Durban. The route traverses several famous protected areas, including the Garden Route, Tsitsikamma National Park and the Transkei.

Another good spot to experience whale watching is in the 34 000 hectares De Hoop Nature Reserve in the Overberg (just three hours from Cape Town), this is one of the largest natural areas managed by CapeNature. This beautiful reserve is a popular spot for hiking, cycling, bird or whale watching. The neighbouring marine reserve is a World Heritage Site that extends 5km out to sea and is one of the largest marine protected areas in Africa. It conserves a vast and fascinating variety of marine life. There is hike along one of the best trails in South Africa in De Hoop, the 5 Day G!ano Coastline Hiking Trail that offers coastal and mountain walking with spectacular views and of course plenty of whale watching opportunities.

If you are looking for close encounter boat-based whale watching you can choose from many options. These boat-based whale watching trips are regulated in South Africa and it is important to choose a reputable and licensed whale watching operator. Whale watching charters are available in most coastal areas, if you are visiting these areas, here are some great boat-based whale watching activities:

- Simon’s Town: Simon's Town Boat Company operating in the western half of False Bay which is one of the finest boat based whale watching sites in South Africa.

- Hermanus: Southern Right Charters, with 20 years’ experience they offer an 'experience to be treasured'.

- Gansbaai: Dyer Island Cruises a 5 Star,custom-built whale watching vessel & Ivanhoe Sea Safaris one the leading boat-based whale watching companies in South Africa.

- Knysna: Ocean Odyssey offering unforgettable marine adventures.

- Plettenberg Bay: Ocean Blue Adventures where you can experience the best the bay has to offer.

- St Lucia in KwaZulu-Natal: Advantage Tours where you can get as close as 50 meters from these gentle ocean giants, the humpback whales. The curious humpback whale can be seen between May to December, moving up along the coast from Hermanus to St Lucia in KwaZulu-Natal.

Another option for amazing whale-watching if you are visiting Hermanus is a whale watching and photographic flight with African Wings who provide flights that will enable you to look at these marine giants from above. This amazing experience can be booked for 30, 45 or 60 minutes and will leave you in awe!

With so many whale watching activities on offer, you have no shortage of choice of amazing experiences to choose from! Please contact us if you would like some more information on a whale watching experience or some sample packages showing how this experience can be incorporated into a package.

The post Best Spots & Times to Enjoy Whale Watching In South Africa appeared first on Southern Africa 360.

Our MD, Collin Thaver MD had the following to say about Paul joining the team “Paul Sandford holds solid expertise in the travel industry, both as a buyer and a seller. Having the knowledge of the French market, he can accurately identify the best commercial outlet for the given products we are wanting to promote. He also understands the importance of connecting a DMC with the right tour operator or travel agent and thus is the perfect fit for us and our business module”.

Thaver went on to state that this new partnership between Southern Africa 360 and Blue Sand Travel Solutions has already shown results, generating promising sales with a small number of identified wholesalers. With both forces joining into this new challenge, and with the ambition of addressing a broader range of clients with specific packages, both companies hold the key to promoting South Africa in the French market and offering these travellers something new and fresh.

Background: We  are a South African destination management company owned and run by husband and wife team Nikki and Collin Thaver. Renowned for designing luxury packages and holidays into the Southern Africa region, and with our own fleet of small luxury vehicles, the business operates 2 dedicated divisions: Luxury Holidays and Exclusive Tours. Our newly appointed team of French consultants will be led by a dedicated Product Manager addressing the specific needs of the French traveller, thereby providing client and market focused services. Southern Africa 360 offers a very competitive edge when it comes to meeting or matching their clients’ budgets.

Blue Sand Travel Solutions is a dedicated B2B partner run by Paul Sandford, connecting worldwide destination management companies and hotels to top tour operators and travel distributors. With a special focus on the French distribution channel, Blue Sand Travel Solutions offers both a gateway to hotels and DMCs wishing to reach out to domestic travel markets, and an extensive source of travel products, whether hotels or experiences, to the tour operators and travel agencies wishing to distribute these products in the most efficient way.

Welcome to the team Paul, we look forward to growing the new partnership with Blue Sand Travel Solutions!

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With Southern Africa 360’s recent expansion they have appointed two new staff members to join their growing team! Taryn Myburgh has joined the team as their Marketing Administrator and Pascale Melissen has joined as an additional Inbound Travel Consultant.

The new Marketing Administrator, Taryn Myburgh, joined the Southern Africa 360 team in September 2018 as a Digital Marketing Intern to gain valuable experience in the industry and has since been promoted to Marketing Administrator. In June 2018 Taryn completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing Management after previously completing a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Marketing Management through the IMM Graduate School of Marketing.

Taryn has a passion for travel and exploring new countries. She has been fortunate to travel extensively abroad as well as within in Africa. She will be responsible for all things Marketing related at Southern Africa 360 and is looking forward to growing with the Southern Africa 360 team and creating engaging and informative online content across social media platforms and on the website.

The newest Inbound Travel Consultant, Pascale Melissen, is the team’s Namibian and Responsible Tourism expert specialising in the Dutch and our growing Europe market. Pascale was born in Amsterdam and moved to South Africa 16 years ago. She has been working in the tourism industry since 1990 and has been working with Dutch agents for many years as an Inbound Travel Consultant. Pascale believes Southern Africa is the most beautiful area in the world. She is looking forward to working at Southern Africa 360 and providing excellent service and expert advice. Pascale will also be working to create innovative new Namibian and Responsible Tour packages into Southern Africa to add to the current packages offered. Pascale supports responsible and sustainable tourism and feels it is our responsibility to save the footprint we have in South Africa for future generations and creating jobs for locals in tourism to empower them. Her motto is: “Once you get African sand in your shoes you will always want to come back!”

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