What do you get when your cross 100 travel agents with a handful of trade media, herds of elephant, a dazzle of zebras and more lions than you can shake a pork chop at?
The answer, of course is South African Tourism’s annual Mega Lekker Escape.
Agents from Australian and New Zealand travelled on 10 simultaneous tours across South Africa, each led by an ANZ wholesaler, and culminated in a two-day training event at the Sun City resort in the Pilanesberg game reserve.
Notably, 100 per cent of the travel agents involved were first time visitors to South Africa. And this initiative offered them the benefit of first-hand experience, pivotal to fostering an appreciation and understanding of a destination, overcoming preconceived notions around barriers and instilling confidence to impart that knowledge to clients. And the results of that first-hand experience are evident – following the 2024 Mega Lekker Escape, 90 per cent of participating agents booked trips to South Africa within the first year.
Spanning seven provinces, the 2025 group travelled across the country to discover spectacular scenery, vibrant cities, awe-inspiring wildlife, captivating culture and the unparalleled hospitality of South Africa. Each of the groups also had the opportunity to get involved in community and conservation-based initiatives such as a Pack For A Purpose, which provides school supplies for underprivileged students. One group got to experience a rhino rescue mission to assist an injured rhino at Mabula lodge which others visited a Zulu village visit to learn about and participate in traditional customs or visit the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre.
All participants flew with South African Airways on its Perth to Johannesburg service South African and nine ANZ wholesalers made up of Above and Beyond Holidays, Adventure Destinations, The Africa Safari Co., Adventure World (AU and NZ), Bench, MW Tours, This Is Africa, Viva Expeditions and World Journeys, arranged and hosted the famils.
The two-day training event at Sun City included one-to-one meetings between wholesalers and operators as well as evening functions including a trivia night and a presentation evening during which each group presented highlight videos of their trips. Finally, on the day of their departure all participants were treated to a lunch on the world’s most luxurious train, hosted by Rovos Rail.
South African Tourism’s Chief Operating Officer, Darryl Erasmus said, “This initiative is critical to our ongoing post-Covid recovery, as the pandemic resulted in a significant turnover of travel agents in the market, and among that we lost agents with destination expertise. We’ve seen the success of bridging this gap with first-hand experience in terms of sales however most importantly, the inclusion of SMMEs, sustainable and community-based experiences fulfils our mission as South African Tourism to ensure that tourism grows and contributes to inclusive economic participation”.
