Adventurous Indians heading to South Africa

With over 100 adventure activities on offer in addition to the popular wildlife safaris, an increasing number of Indians are heading to South Africa to get a dose of adrenaline rush, officials said Friday.

"Of the total tourists from India, adventure activities and wildlife is on top of the list for 30 percent of the travellers," Hanneli Slabber, country manager, South African Tourism (SAT), told IANS on the sidelines of the fourth edition of the 'Learn South Africa' programme.

"There is a 25 percent increase in Indian travellers this year as compared to last year who came to South Africa for adventure activities," she added.

The training programme is underway in 15 Indian cities and aims at promoting, planning and organising attractive packages as per clients' needs with its travel partners.

According to Slabber, South Africa offers 125 different adventure sports and activities like bungee jumping, deep sea diving, snorkeling etc.

Slabber added that "Indians want maximum bang for their buck", therefore SAT modified their tour packages according to the needs and demands of their Indian customers.

"When we started here in 2003, we were trying to project South Africa as a lifestyle destination but that soon changed after we got the feedback it showed that Indians loved value for money adventure activities. So, we rearranged our packages starting 2010," she said.

In 2012, 106,000 Indians visited South Africa, up from 90,367 in 2011 and 72,000 in 2010. A total of 25,000 have visited the country till March this year.

According to Slabber, a 10-day trip to South Africa that includes wildlife safari, adventure activities and city tours costs around Rs.80,000 per person.