South African Airways And On Show Solutions Bring The Africa Showcase To The U.S.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. and JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- South African Airways (SAA), Africa's most awarded airline, and South Africa-based event specialist, On Show Solutions, have raised the bar this year for their popular trade show with an increase in exhibitor numbers and an enhancement to the format.  The Africa Showcase features suppliers from across Southern and East Africa that represent hotels, safari lodges, destination tourism organizations and other attractions that are popular with travelers from North America.  The Africa Showcase will be held this year in San Francisco, CA.; Denver, CO; Fort Lauderdale, FL.; and Stamford, CT.

The Africa Showcase is designed for travel specialists who book vacations to Africa, to discover new hotels and safari products and learn the latest trends to increase sales to this lucrative travel segment.  "This year the buyers are in for a treat," said Amanda Margison, co-owner of On Show Solutions. "We've had huge demand from the industry to participate, encouraging us to increase the showcase to 30 suppliers while keeping our focus on the quality of products we feature."

In addition to its successful trade evening format, SAA and On Show Solutions have introduced VIP buyer encounters in San Francisco, CA and Fort Lauderdale, FL.  These dedicated events create an additional opportunity for top African producers to meet suppliers through scheduled appointments.  

"We have worked hard to source the right profile of buyers to ensure the quality of the business interaction at all of our events," said Stroebel Bekker, Vice President of Sales for South African Airways in North America. "As knowledge of Africa deepens and the market matures, we believe that the showcase needs to evolve to deliver maximum business."

The Africa Showcase is the largest travel trade event in North America featuring exclusively African products.  The show is designed to be both educational and entertaining, with attendees being immersed in the food, culture and experiences that they will be selling.  Now in its 6th year in the U.S., On Show Solutions and SAA have created a winning partnership to bring together the right buyers and right suppliers to boost sales to Africa.

The dates and venues for the 2014 Africa Showcase are:

About SAA
South African Airways (SAA), Africa's most awarded airline, operates to 42 destinations worldwide, including daily nonstop flights from New York, and daily direct flights from Washington, DC (via Dakar) to Johannesburg. In its domestic market SAA has an extensive schedule operating 660 flights in total per week between Johannesburg – Cape Town, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth, from its Johannesburg hub, as well as code-shared flights between Lanseria – Cape Town and Durban. SAA offers more frequencies than any other airline in South Africa. Regionally, SAA offers 26 destinations across the African continent including Abidjan, Accra, Blantyre, Brazzaville, Bujumbura, Cotonou, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Douala, Entebbe, Harare, Kigali, Kinshasa, Lagos, Libreville, Lilongwe, Livingstone, Luanda, Lusaka, Maputo, Mauritius, Nairobi, Ndola, Pointe Noire, Victoria Falls and Windhoek. SAA's international network creates links to all major continents from South Africa through 11 direct routes and code shares, with daily flights from Johannesburg to London (Heathrow), Frankfurt, Munich, Mumbai, Perth, Hong Kong, Beijing, New York, Washington, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. SAA has codes share agreements with 27 other airlines across the markets it serves, including partnerships with United, US Airways, Air Canada and JetBlue in North America, which offer convenient connections from more than 30 cities to SAA's flights. SAA's core business is the provision of passenger airline and cargo transport services together with related services, which are provided through SAA and its four wholly owned subsidiaries: SAA Technical; Mango its low cost carrier; Air Chefs, the catering entity of SAA and South African Travel Centre (SATC). SAA is a Star Alliance member which offers more than 21,900 daily flights to 1,328 airports in 195 countries. SAA is the winner of the 'Best Airline in Africa' Award in the regional category for eleven consecutive years. Mango and SAA hold the number one and number two successive spots as South Africa's most on-time airlines. For more information, call 1-800-722-9675, or visit www.flysaa.com.

About On Show Solutions
The Africa Showcase is organized by On Show Solutions, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.  On Solutions – a dynamic exhibition and events team with a personalized approach and clear vision for global marketing - hosts exhibition and product seminar platforms in key markets throughout the world in its quest to promote tourism to Africa.  For further information, email [email protected] or visit www.onshowsolutions.co.za.

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SOURCE South African Airways