Wesgro, the official destination marketing, investment and trade promotion agency of the Western Cape, will be attending the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai in April to engage with the travel trade in the Middle Eastern market to help build relationships and to entice this market to visit the Western Cape

Judy Lain, Chief Marketing Officer at Wesgro, says the company will be working closely with South African Tourism and the National Department of Tourism to build initiatives that focus on this market from an investment perspective and to drive joint marketing campaigns.

The Middle Eastern business and family travel segments were lucrative ones from an investment perspective, said Lain, adding that research done by Wesgro had shown that the market was visiting South Africa for two to four weeks, sometimes even longer, during the high and low seasons.

She said a growing understanding of the value of the market as a niche tourism segment was shaping a trend within the tourism industry. Wesgro was noticing an increase in specialist operators working within this market as well as an increase in booking sites specifically catering for Middle Eastern travellers.