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.

Key to forming this new partnership was being able to spend more time having face-to-face interactions with our agents in India, this will now be possible with 5 additional contact offices in Pan India. Christina Aitiwadekar will be taking over as the Southern Africa 360’s new Product Head based in Mumbai.

Click here to find out more about this new partnership with Global Destinations.

For more information or sales support you are welcome to contact one of the following Global Destinations Branch Offices:

Bangalore:                               Ahmedabad:                                 Kolkata:    
Sajid Akhtar                              Parth Mehta                                 Payel Dutta
blr@globaldestinations.in      amd@globaldestinations.in      ccu@globaldestinations.in
Cell: +91 9113232052             Cell: +91 81540 36972              Cell: +91 83370 30496

Delhi:
Jaivardhan Beniwal / Ruchika Berry
delsales@globaldestinations.in / delhi@globaldestinations.in
Cell: +91 82914 73883 / Cell: +91 82919 14038

For any urgent matters or to contact Christina directly, you are welcome to contact Global Destinations Head Office in Mumbai:

Christina Aitiwadekar                                  Pruthvi Khetani
SA360@globaldestinations.in             pruthvi@globaldestinations.in
Cell: +91 96644 83036                       Cell: +91 96644 83032

We thank you for your continued support. If you would like to find out more about Southern Africa 360, what we offer and how we can help you to sell more holidays to Southern Africa, please contact us. 

The post We Have Increased Our Footprint In India appeared first on Southern Africa 360.

World Rhino Day is celebrated annually on the 22^nd of September, a day where we can celebrate our favourite species and support their future. World Rhino Day was first announced by WWF-South Africa in 2010 and in 2011 it grew into an international success, celebrating all five species of rhino: Black, white, greater one-horned, Sumatran and Javan rhinos, all of which are under threat from the illegal rhino horn trade.

This special day brings together cause related organisations, rhino sanctuaries, NGOs and the public to celebrate rhinos in their own way. Activities for this day vary and there and there are several organisiations and initiatives that donors can choose to support. Some examples of activities include peaceful demonstrations, auctions to raise funds or a fundraising dinner. Some examples that teenagers could get involved with include classroom projects, poster displays and art contests.

New for World Rhino Day 2019 – You can download the World Rhino Day Playlist on Spotify. This playlist is a rhino-themed soundtrack comprised of 35 songs, totaling 2 hours and 19 minutes, offering a something for everyone from songs, albums and bands named rhino or rhinoceros. Download it here.

WWF Africa Rhino Programme 

With the strategic goal of raising the profile of rhinos globally and creating awareness for greater corporate and civil society responsibility towards rhino conservation, the World Wildlife Fund’s African Rhino Programme has evolved in response to the dramatic increase in cases of rhino poaching.

The African Rhino Programme strives to strengthen rhino conservation efforts employing a range of multifaceted solutions to tackle the rhino poaching crisis, including:

- Building and protecting key rhino populations to help them grow.

- Developing buffers in local communities around rhinos as the first critical line of defence.

- Supporting and tightening proactive law enforcement efforts to break illegal trade chains.

- Improving cooperation between South Africa and consumer countries.

- Understanding rhino horn trade in end-user markets and influencing demand.

  Southern Africa 360’s pledge

Intrinsic to Southern Africa 360 Luxury Holidays’ culture and philosophy is that of ‘giving back’. We recognise the importance of and are fully committed to making a meaningful contribution to the significant environmental, social and human impacts that tourism has on its surrounding environment. Our support has seen us give back to environmental protection over recent years through supporting the preservation of one of Africa’s most threatened wildlife species – the rhino.

From the outset you will notice that the rhino has formed a strong part of our company logo and is featured quite prominently in the Africa portion of our name. The reason for adopting the rhino into our logo signifies to us the unwavering character that this animal possesses. Like the rhino, we as a company are going to face many threats and challenges, but by building and fostering strong relationships with suppliers, clients and our customers, we should be able to take on the competition and still create our mark of uniqueness.

You may start to notice over the coming weeks a change in our pricing structure, where we will be introducing the rhino into our pricing and will therefore be ending pricing in R10.00, we have chosen this because the R10.00 note depicts the rhino image. You may think this pricing structure is an odd figure and you are right. We could have ended in 95 or 99 which sounds much more attractive but this R10.00 from each booking will be donated to the WWF Rhino Foundation as rhino conservation is close to our heart.

In addition to donating R10.00 for every booking through us, we will also be running a Facebook pledge, on our Luxury Holidays page that will see a further R100.00 go to the fund for every client that posts a picture of a rhino or shares a story related to rhinos while on their travels with us.

We are excited to implement this imitative and further grow our Corporate Social Investments and give back to others. To find out how you can make a difference, click here. If you would like more information on our Corporate Social investments and how we are making meaningful contributions to help others, you can contact us.

The post Our Rhino Day 2019 Pledge appeared first on Southern Africa 360.

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.

The post Update On Youth Development At Southern Africa 360 appeared first on Southern Africa 360.

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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.

The Featherbed Co have been worked hard at rebuilding the infrastructure and facilities as well as rehabilitating the vegetation since the devastating Knysna fires in June 2017 razed the restaurant and tourist facilities to the ground and left most of the plant-life reduced to ashes. Re-opening the standard Featherbed Eco Tours were an exciting moment, these are the tours started the Featherbed business and remained as the core product for 32 years.

The formula for visiting the Featherbed Nature Reserve will remain unchanged. Visitors who want to enjoy a tour of the reserve will be transported on board the Featherbed ferry from the terminal at the Cruise Café on Remembrance Drive. At the reserve, the Featherbed guides will lead guests on a 4×4 journey to the top of the Western Head – offering spectacular views over Knysna and the lagoon. Your clients will then have the option of either following the 2.2 km coastal walk or returning by vehicle to the restaurant where they will enjoy a scrumptious lunch, followed by a return boat transfer back to town.

The Food Forest restaurant has been redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up, complimented by a new indoor facility to accommodate all weather conditions when needed.

Featherbed is planning on offering exciting new tour options, of shorter duration, allowing guests with less time on their itinerary to visit the reserve. Keep an eye out for these offers coming soon!

Please contact us if you would like some more information on a Featherbed Eco Tour or some sample packages showing how this experience can be incorporated into a package.

The post The Magic of a Featherbed Eco Tour appeared first on Southern Africa 360.

Cape Town’s dam levels are double what they were in 2018. Dams supplying water to Cape Town are currently at 52.7% capacity, a welcomed contrast to last year’s very low 23%. The Theewaterskloof Dam, the province’s biggest dam, is still over 40% full, which is four times its level in 2018. 

Hydro-climatologist Piotr Wolski says it’s too soon to tell how this year’s winter rainfall will improve the water situation. “I think anything can happen. It’s possible we will have another dry or wet year. I think what’s important is to look at the range of possibilities.”

The post Cape Town Dam Levels Are At 52.7% Capacity appeared first on Southern Africa 360.

Each note will celebrate a different milestone in the life of the Mandela starting with the R10 note that will highlight the Eastern Cape and his birthplace. The R20 note will feature Mandela’s hometown of Soweto and the R50 note will depict the site he was captured in KwaZulu-Natal. The R100 note will feature Robben Island, the site of Mandela’s Incarceration for 18 of the 27 years of his imprisonment. The R200 note celebrates the grandest event, Mandela’s presidential inauguration in Pretoria.

“This is a proud moment for the SARB and indeed for our country. It is the first time in the history of the SARB that we issue a series of commemorative banknotes‚ and there is no more fitting an occasion than the 100th birthday of Madiba”

said SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago.

Southern Africa 360 has also decided to honor the late Nelson Mandela this year by launching two special tours, a 13 day and an 18 day,  that will take guests on a journey Mandela’s life and visit all the places depicted on these special notes. These are incredible tours that will not only take guests around South Africa but give them a greater understanding of the father of the Rainbow Nation.

To inquire about our Nelson Mandela Centenary tours contact us at info@southernafrica360.com.

The post South Africa’s Banks Celebrate Mandela appeared first on Southern Africa 360.

There has been a 50% increase in tourist arrivals to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe this year, with some hotels fully booked for the rest of the year! The Victoria Falls region last experienced 100% bookings in 1999 and this trend seems to be spreading through the rest of the country!

This boom can be attributed to a number of factors;

“The intense marketing and PR by the private sector together with Ministry, plus the impact of the new Victoria Falls International Airport and increased routes and access, have played a major role in this growth.”

Says Ross Kennedy, Chief Executive of Africa Albida Tourism.

With this news, it’s important for all travellers into the region to boo in advance to avoid disappointment as space is becoming limited as we head into the busy season! For more information on our Victoria Falls packages, visit our website and book today!

The post Victoria Falls: The New Must See Destination? appeared first on Southern Africa 360.