The addition of a seventh weekly flight direct from Cape Town to Addis Ababa is indicative of how popular – and crucial – air access to the rest of the continent is to the Western Cape. This is the view of Wesgro CEO Tim Harris who welcomed representatives from the Thai travel media to Cape Town on Monday 26th October.
Over the next year, Wesgro, in partnership with Tsogo Sun and Franschhoek Tourism, will be hosting representatives from some of the 91 destinations served by Ethiopian Airlines. It is hoped that the increased flights coupled with the media exposure hosted by Wesgro will increase foot flow to Cape Town.
The first group of visitors representing media from Ethiopian Airlines based in Thailand arrived in Cape Town on the 26th of October and will be touring the province for three days. Highlights on their itinerary include a visit to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, the Cape of Good Hope, African penguin spotting on Boulders Beach, and culinary capital Franschhoek.
The overwhelming demand for the route has seen the airline increase the number of weekly flights from six to seven less than four months after the route was first launched, however many travel agents and tour operators representing Ethiopian Airlines remain unfamiliar with the Western Cape and what it has to offer.
“The hosting programmes will help to build awareness and develop relationships that in turn will attract more leisure and business travellers from Ethiopia and their linked destinations,” says Harris.
Ethiopian Group CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, said in a statement that the extra flight to Cape Town will give their customers more choice and more convenient connectivity options when traveling within, to and from the continent. “We will continue to expand our reach in our home market in Africa with a view to support to the continent’s socio-economic integration and development”, he said.
Ethiopian Airlines will use footage shot by their representatives during the hosting events in Cape Town and the Western Cape in their destination videos aired in their booking offices around the world.
“This is an incredible opportunity to showcase what the Western Cape has to offer while at the same time developing existing trade and travel networks with Ethiopia and the rest of Africa,” Harris says.
Ethiopian currently flies direct from Addis Ababa to Cape Town six days a week but has upped that to seven flights a week from October 27th. The airline also flies direct to Johannesburg and will be launching another route to Durban next month. The state-owned carrier uses the latest technology aircraft such as B777s and B787s Dreamliner and has plans to increase its fleet from 76 planes to 140 planes by 2025.
Wesgro will also be hosting a Speed Networking event in November with booking agents from Ethiopia.
Source: cbn.co.za
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