SATSA and Tourism KwaZulu-Natal last week joined forces to host a very successful three-day virtual familiarisation, showcasing key attractions and hidden gems in the province.

As part of this innovative drive 45 KZN products, including hotels, resorts, adventure activities, attractions and transport providers from the Elephant Coast, Midlands, Battlefields, Drakensberg, Durban, as well as the North and South Coasts, presented their destination and products.

We were thrilled with the huge interest for such virtual sessions with over 200 leading national and international Destination Marketing Companies, Tour Operators and Travel Agencies registering, some from as far afield as Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, UK, USA and Vienna.

The initiative was aimed at helping tourism industry players market their tours and activities virtually in readiness for the phased reopening of leisure travel.

Acting CEO of TKZN Phindile Makwakwa said virtual familiarisations provide a wonderful opportunity for KZN to reach out to new tourism trade partners enabling them to sell the destination to a wider global audience.

“This pandemic has further highlighted the importance of partnerships in tourism and we look forward to an even more enhanced relationship with tour operators and buyers globally to ensure that KZN remains a top of mind tourism destination.”

“The virtual tours will go a long way to showcase the myriad of experiences found in the Zulu Kingdom while reassuring our trade partners that we are indeed ready to welcome their clients back to our shores,” she said.

SATSA CEO David Frost said the virtual familiarisations are an opportunity to reimagine how the industry could upskill in times of COVID-19 and beyond.

“By taking this type of educational online, we’re able to expand our reach and provide market access for tourism businesses we would not have been able to necessarily do during the pandemic. We are providing a platform for accessibility and inclusivity.”

“At the same time, we are also meeting demand, as stipulated by our overseas trade partners and travellers, for new products and experiences in less-frequented destinations. A win-win scenario.”

Having gone virtual, it is now much easier to share the experience and you are invited to view the recordings and brochures of each virtual fam as follows:
Durban, North Coast & South Coast: Recording & Brochure
Midlands, Drakensberg & Battlefields: Recording & Brochure
The Elephant Coast: Recording & Brochure

When times are tough – and indeed they are incredibly tough right now – our tourism industry really does pull together in the spirit of “Ubuntu” (community) to help those in dire need.

All across Africa, lodge and hotel owners like us – many with little or no income themselves – are trying their best to ensure their staff are looked after – and that the local rural communities are getting food parcels to keep the wolves at bay.

A big problem though, it that for every tourist who goes on safari, vital funds are ploughed not only into these local communities, but into conservation to help maintain our parks and protect the wildlife from poachers. Park fees and community levies have now totally dried up during the Covid-19 pandemic and the knock-on effect we are seeing on the ground in Africa is nothing short of devastating!

Mother Africa needs to be protected so that there are still wildlife reserves left after this is all over.

With this in mind, New African Safaris, is very proud to be part of an initiative called Ride4Rangers, joining hundreds of fellow tourism industry friends to raise money for Tusk Trust.

All funds raised will be shared across 60 different projects and conservation areas across Southern, East, Central and West Africa to support over 5000 rangers in their vital work. Incredibly, Tusk has also secured a donor who has offered to match-fund all the Ride4Rangers monies raised for double the impact on the ground.

The Challenge
To ride 30,000 km cumulatively – the equivalent of circumnavigating Africa. A number of our tourism friends will be physically cycling across the length of Great Britain from Land’s End in Cornwall to John O’Groats in Scotland from 15th – 31st August 2020, which is 874 miles/ 1,407 km.

Help Us Make a Difference
Even £5 or £10 would be a big help if we all work together! Your contribution will help purchase a GPS enabled camera to monitor wildlife, fund rangers’ salaries to stave off poachers – and help build predator-proof livestock enclosures to stop conflict between communities and wildlife.

Who Can Help?
You!  Anyone.  Everyone.  Anywhere in the world.  All you need is a concern / passion for Africa, its people and its wildlife!  You choose how you can help – be it by signing up to ride a bike, a horse – or even doing it virtually.

They also have a Cycle 10, Donate 10, Nominate 3 + Double your Donation challenge if you would like to contribute to covering off some of the 30,000 km to raise awareness.

Click here to take part.  But if you can’t physically get involved you can still make a real difference by donating and supporting someone who is!

Please donate what you can and share this with your friends on social platforms.
The Spirit of Ubuntu will overcome. “I am, because you are”

The next reason why you need T&C relates to liability.

Often you as a business may arrange for services to be provided or products to be supplied by a third party (‘TP’). This means you are actually the ‘go between’ and the contract for the service or product is between the client and the TP.

The key issue you need to be aware of here is that in most cases the TP will submit before (in the quote or estimate) or with the delivery (in the delivery note or invoice) of the service or product T&C that govern the relationship between the TP and the client.

It is crucial that you in YOUR T&C point this out to the client and stress that the relationship between the client and TP are governed by the TP T&C and that you cannot be liable for the failure to perform by the TP. Likewise the TP must indemnify you against any claim by the client.

Copyright Adv Louis Nel t/a louis-THE-lawyer

DISCLAIMER – Each case depends on its own facts & merits – the above does not constitute advice – independent advice should be obtained in all instances

LEGAL ADVICE CLUB (‘LAC’) – You can obtain specialized tourism advice from Louis (38 years in tourism) on an hoc basis via the COVID SPECIALS for SATSA members (1) 10 minutes of pro bono (Free) advice via a phone call or e-mail and/or (2) by joining his LAC for which the joining fee & hourly rates have been reduced by 30% AND you can pay the joining fee over 3 (three) months! The fee for the 1st hour is now only R500

CONTACT – louis@louisthelawyer.co.za or 083 679 4556

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