Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) will be organising its annual convention in Cape Town, South Africa. At a press meet in New Delhi recently, an MoU was signed between OTOAI office bearers and African Link Travel, South Africa. Addressing the gathering, Mahendra Vakharia, president, OTOAI said, “We are excited that we have got this opportunity to host our fourth convention in beautiful Cape Town. It will be held from August 11, 2018, to August 14, 2018. It is also the centenary year of Nelson Mandela’s birthday, so this year’s convention in South Africa will be special from the tourism point of view. ”
Speaking on the occasion, Bunny Bhoola, director, African Link Travel stated, “We are looking forward to having this convention in South Africa. This initiative will surely boost the diplomatic ties between both nations and also help to strengthen MSME in both India and South Africa.”
Alpa Jani, manager, trade relations, South African Tourism added, “It would be really exciting to have all the outbound travel agents in South Africa under one roof. And this year being celebrated as centenary year on the 100th birthday of Nelson Mandela, is also a great reason for the agents to be there in Africa.”
Speaking about the agenda and highlights of the convention, Himanshu Patil, vice president and chairman-convention, OTOAI mentioned, “We have selected Cape Town as the venue for this year’s convention as we want our agents to explore this beautiful country of South Africa and be aware of its diverse tourism offerings. We have selected almost 200 delegates from India for this convention, and looking at the response and interest shown by agents and operators I will have to request African Link Travel to increase the number of seats so that we can take more people. There will be pre and post-convention Fam tours to allow our delegates to explore the whole of South Africa. They will get to explore Garden Route, Johannesburg, and Sun City. The B2B sessions will be focused on the agenda ‘The Digital Way Forward’ and will be based on the exchange of ideas, new concepts and more methods which will benefit our tour operators and agents.”
Emirates and Ethiopian airlines are being looked at as airline partner.
