Delta Air Lines and Africa travel specialist, GILTEDGE, will be hosting top US trade partners during an exclusive ‘Relaunch South Africa’ trip this week (March 7-14).

Starting in Cape Town, the trade group will follow a tailor-made itinerary that includes stays in the Cape Winelands and the Northern Cape, before ending their journey with an overnight stay in Johannesburg.

Says Murray Gardiner, Director of GILTEDGE: “The idea for this exclusive US trade fam trip emerged last June as we saw massive pent-up demand for South Africa from US travellers, positioning this source market as the country’s number-one inbound international market in 2021.

“We wanted to leverage this demand by showcasing South Africa and its incredible value proposition as a preferred destination in a post-COVID world and were delighted when Delta Air Lines agreed to partner with us to host key US trade partners.”

Delta relaunched its Johannesburg and Atlanta flights in August last year and now operates three times weekly, connecting South Africa with a choice of 150 destinations across the United States via Delta’s largest hub, Atlanta. The airline has also submitted an application to operate direct flights between Atlanta and Cape Town three times a week, year round, starting November 2022.

“Our VVIP trade guests will have an opportunity to experience Delta One Suites to and from South Africa and will be hosted by GILTEDGE and Delta Air Lines throughout their trip, which will see them stay at Ellerman House, Babylonstoren, Tswalu The Motse and Fairlawns Boutique Hotel & Spa,” says Gardiner.

Attending the VVIP ‘Relaunch South Africa’ fam are Jetset World Travel, Cadence Travel, Brownell, Protravel and TripArc, part of Travel Edge. Accompanying the group will be GILTEDGE directors, Sean Kritzinger and Gardiner as well as a representative from Delta.

“This fam is an example of how industry stakeholders can collaborate to provide first-hand experiences to our key trade partners internationally, which is absolutely crucial if we are to fast-track South Africa’s swift recovery as destination of choice post-pandemic. We should all be looking for ways to join forces to deliver that first-hand experience so that South Africa’s excellent travel experiences get airtime in key source markets,” Gardiner concludes.