The US market, which declined 13% year on year for the first four month of 2015, is expected to recover in the next few months.
Marc Cavaliere, SAA Head: The Americas, spoke to Tourism Update on the side-lines of the SATSA Conference last week about the market.
According to Cavaliere, the market took a dip following the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. He explains that the US market was especially sensitive to fears related to the Ebola outbreak because of understanding the size and geography of Africa.
The meetings, conferences, incentives and events (MICE) sector was particularly hurt, says Cavaliere, with groups of 50 to 200 people cancelling their trips after the outbreak.
However, Cavaliere is confident the market will recover. He says SAA has seen an increase in enquiries for its flights to SA especially over the last six weeks. Cavaliere points out that because of the booking cycles for travel to South Africa out of the US, the growth in arrivals will only be seen in six to eight months.
According to Cavaliere, many of the incentive groups that cancelled their trips are looking to rebook.
“Unfortunately,” Cavaliere says, “the new immigration regulations, particularly the requirements for children under the age of 18, will have an effect of the US market, which has a large component of multigenerational and youth-oriented travel (i.e. youth sports teams, youth group travel, etc.)” He explains that because of the complexities of the requirements, some travel agents are reluctant to sell South Africa as a family destination.
To help recover the US market, SAA has invested in campaigns promoting the destination to the S market, and also reducing air fares. He argues that this, together with the favourable exchange rate against the rand, can help drive the recovery. Although, Cavaliere points out, the US has also strengthened on the Euro, which is encouraging US travellers to travel to Europe.
