Large SA contingent heads for ITB

A FULL complement of 117 South African exhibitors will be attending next month's ITB in Berlin being held from March 9 - 13, says South African Tourism's (Satour) international marketing manager, Dale Pretorius. "I believe that this will be the biggest and best ITB ever in terms of SA." Pretorius says that this is a prime time for SA to be strutting its stuff, especially on the European stage, as it ties in its first ever multimillion-dollar international marketing campaign aimed at Europe and the US. As an example of the awareness being created about SA as a preferred tourism destination in Germany alone, some 622 huge billboards have been erected in all cities with a population in excess of 150 000; and the New York Times gave SA a big plug at the beginning of the campaign with "brilliant" US coverage, according to Pretorius. All major papers and upmarket magazines in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and the US be carrying SA advertising, creating a "major interest" in the country. Satour will be making an even bigger noise about its "burst" campaign on the evening of Saturday, March 11 when it hosts a specially themed African Evening - guaranteed to be full of excitement. "We're expecting to be busier than ever," said an upbeat Pretorius, who will be attending his last ITB with Satour before retiring at the end of April. (Southern African Tourism Update - February 2000)