The largest consumer travel show in southern Africa, Flight Centre Travel Group’s annual Travel Expo, returns for its tenth year in 2020, but in an exciting new format. The 2020 Travel Expo #TravelExpo20 will be a pop-up event, with deals available at all 121 Flight Centre and Cruiseabout stores across the country. The event will run for three days from 28 February to 01 March 2020.
Last year’s Travel Expo, held at the Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg over one weekend in February, reported 30,000 visitors and over R50-million in travel sales.
“To mark the 10th anniversary of the Travel Expo, we have decided to extend the Expo’s reach across South Africa,” says Andrew Stark, Flight Centre Travel Group Managing Director, Middle East and Africa.
This is in response to the event’s growing popularity – and requests by customers to bring the expo to other cities in South Africa.
“By going national, more people will have the opportunity to book unbeatable expo deals, just in a far more convenient space and accessible way. The same great deals will be available at all local Flight Centre and Cruiseabout stores, as well as online on our website. These will be over 500 exclusive deals that can’t be found anywhere else. Think the same great deals with far more convenience,” says Stark.
Stark confirmed that the 2020 Travel Expo will be a three-day event held after payday, so consumers have more days to take advantage of the deals on offer.
Last year’s Travel Expo saw a 40% increase in attendance. Sue Garrett, Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) General Manager, Marketing and Product, reported that over 70% of bookings made at the 2019 expo were for international travel.
Top destinations included Mauritius, Thailand, Australia, the US and Indonesia. Garrett predicts that once again rand-friendly destinations, package holidays, cruises and guided holidays will be bestsellers.
“Demand for cruises have increased year on year,” adds Sara Park, Marketing Campaign Manager at Cruiseabout, a division of the Flight Centre Travel Group. “Cruising remains one of the most value-for-money holidays, with a huge variety of cruises to appeal to every age and interest. Local and regional cruises are always immensely popular. Still, we predict more interest in alternative options, such as river cruising, boating holidays and bucket-list trips to eco-conscious destinations such as India, the Amazon and Galapagos Islands.”
Domestic travel is also predicted to be popular.
“Given unpredictable exchange rates, and the huge diversity of tourism attractions in South Africa, our Local Breaks and Stokvel Travel initiatives aim to get more South Africans exploring our beautiful country.”
“Travel Expo has become synonymous with South Africans planning their holidays for the entire year,” said Stark. “We are excited that the 2020 pop-up Travel Expo will reach more South Africans than ever before, either at their local Flight Centre store or online.”
