South African Tourism has stepped up its engagement with the Indian travel trade through its participation at OTM 2026 in Mumbai and a multi-city roadshow covering Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Delhi, reinforcing India’s position as one of its priority source markets.
The initiative brought together more than 40 South African exhibitors and over 900 travel trade partners across the four Indian cities, highlighting the destination’s offerings across leisure travel, luxury experiences, wildlife tourism and MICE segments.
South African Tourism said the roadshow series aims to strengthen partnerships with the Indian travel trade while building destination awareness and encouraging outbound travel to South Africa.
India has emerged as an increasingly important source market for the destination. In 2025, the country ranked as South Africa’s seventh-largest overseas source market and contributed around 3 per cent of total international arrivals. The Indian market has recovered to nearly 73 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, reflecting steady momentum in outbound travel demand.
Speaking about the India strategy, Mitalee Karmarkar, Marketing and Communications Manager (MEISEA), South African Tourism, said the market is witnessing a shift towards experience-driven travel across leisure, business and blended “bleisure” segments.
“India’s travel landscape continues to evolve rapidly. We are seeing growing interest from travellers who are well-informed and adventurous. Beyond traditional family holidays, there is increasing engagement from business, MICE and corporate travel segments,” she said.
The roadshow also provided insights into changing traveller behaviour, with Indian tourists increasingly using digital and AI-enabled tools to research destinations, customise itineraries and explore lesser-known regions within long-haul markets.
City-specific engagement highlighted the growing diversity of India’s outbound travel base. Bengaluru, with its large base of frequent international travellers, is emerging as a strong market for premium leisure and wildlife experiences.
Ahmedabad is witnessing rising interest from both leisure and business travellers seeking experience-led itineraries that combine culture, nature and adventure.
Kolkata continues to show strong demand for culturally rich travel experiences, with travellers from the city often seeking itineraries that blend heritage exploration with wildlife safaris and nature tourism.
Delhi, one of the country’s largest outbound markets, remains a key source of premium and long-haul travellers looking for curated journeys combining wildlife, culture and leisure experiences.
The tourism board said Indian travel motivations to South Africa are increasingly diversified. Data from 2025 indicates that business travel accounts for around 24.5 per cent of arrivals, followed by visiting friends and relatives (22.5 per cent), business meetings and MICE travel (21.5 per cent) and holiday travel (20.9 per cent).
South African Tourism is also strengthening destination awareness through initiatives such as the Learn South Africa training programme and its Corporate Think Tank series, aimed at building deeper destination knowledge among Indian travel agents and corporate travel planners.
With Indian outbound travel expected to continue expanding, the tourism board is targeting a return to pre-pandemic Indian visitor volumes by 2026 while expanding partnerships with the Indian travel trade to drive sustained growth.
Industry stakeholders say such trade-focused initiatives remain critical in strengthening long-haul destination awareness and building confidence among travel planners as demand for experiential and multi-purpose travel continues to rise among Indian travellers.
