South African Tourism announced Neliswa Nkani’s appointment as the Hub Head for Middle East, India and Southeast Asia.
A South African citizen, Neliswa will now assume reigns and spearhead the national tourism board’s initiatives in India. Nkani was the Director for South African Tourism in Amsterdam from 2003 to 2006.
Prior to this she was the Chief Marketing Officer for a Government Investment Agency focusing on Europe, Middle East and Africa. In 2006, she started a company which specialized in Marketing activation in Tourism, Tourism hosting. Through her tenure there, she has also done work for Ajax Cape Town and was instrumental in Hosting Ajax Amsterdam in 2007. She has also coordinated the marketing of Cape Winelands for World Cup 2010, lobbying for international teams, media, sponsor and fans
The new Hub Head brings great value to the role; over and above her three years at the South African Tourism office in Amsterdam, she comes with holistic tourism experience that includes marketing, strategic government relations, negotiating, tourism, sales and investment facilitation.
She will be instrumental in helping the South African travel industry understand the Indian market better, and in encouraging tailored destination offerings to cater to the tastes and demands of travellers from various regions across India.
Commenting on her appointment, Neliswa Nkani said, “Given the rich history and culture shared by India and South Africa, India has always been close to my heart. India gives us the opportunity to push conventional boundaries in an attempt to engage and reinvent against an ever-evolving and dynamic Indian travel landscape. I am delighted to be able to work closely with the travel fraternity in India and I look forward to entrenching South Africa deeper in the Indian market, which is ripe with potential.”
This appointment follows Ms. Hanneli Slabber’s elevation in November, 2017 as the Regional General Manager – Asia, Australasia and Middle East. Hanneli had helmed South African Tourism’s India office for over seven years and will continue to provide directional guidance basis her immense experience of the market.
During her tenure at the India office, she has grown to love and understand India and has developed effective and long-lasting ties with media houses, travel trade, airlines and more.
Hanneli Slabber, Regional General Manager – Asia, Australasia and Middle East said, “We are delighted to have Neliswa on board and look forward to working with her as she channels her passion, determination and commitment to creating the best possible market for destination South Africa in India. We are confident that she will bring all of her past learnings and strengths to her new role to take the India market to greater heights. We extend a warm welcome to her and wish her well as she takes on this role.”
South African Tourism’s trade and consumer initiatives this year will all be aligned towards driving awareness and demand for their adventure and wildlife offerings. They will also be focusing on promoting the New Towns of SA within both - the consumer and trade spaces. The appointment of the new Hub Head will sharpen South African Tourism’s operations in the Indian market which, is the largest source market for travel to South Africa. This year the tourism board hopes to surpass their achievements of the last year – which with 97,921 Indian visitors (Jan – Dec 2017) was a great year for them.