The South African government has established a war room to address the serious impact on the peak international tourism season that has been hit hard by the travel ban imposed by around 20 countries in the wake of the new coronavirus variant Omicron being discovered. While the world is busy punishing the ‘good deed’ done by South Africa, we, representing the Indian travel industry come in support of South Africa and continue promoting the destination as one of the ‘bucket-list worthy’ destinations for Indian travellers.To showcase our support, The Digital Travellers, in association with VisaLounge and OneAbove DMC is proud to announce South Africa as the first destination to be featured for the ‘Perfect Match’ campaign. This campaign will not just provide a curated list of leading DMCs from South Africa for the Indian travel market but also include visa rules (by VisaLounge) and hidden travel secrets of South Africa (by OneAbove DMC).

Before we list down the top DMC operators of South Africa for the Indian market, here is a quick visa checklist for South Africa curated by VisaLounge.

• VisaLounge request applicants to apply for a visa for South Africa at least 02 weeks in advance, as the official processing time is 15 days.
• Currently Tourist, Business, Family Visit & Work Permits are the categories of visas being processed by the South Africa Consulate.
• It is extremely important for applicants to follow the checklist provided by the Consulate for any visa process.Below are the places where applicants go wrong while applying for South Africa visa:

–  Submitting old photograph which has been used for any previous visa.

–  Signature has to be done by BLACK INK only and no other colour ink.

–  Bank statements directly from the bank and not print-out of e-statements.

–  Date on Covering letter, hotel accommodation, invitation letter and ticket issuance copy to be of the same date.

– For business trips, the attested copy of the invitee party has to be recent and not old.

–  Invitation letter to carry a stamp of local South African authorities.

From luxury to budget, ‘Perfect Match’ has curated a list of DMC operators from South Africa who caters to every segment of travellers and cover every region of this rainbow nation.

Here is the list of leading DMC companies from South Africa for the Indian market:

1. OneAbove DMC

The name says it all, ‘One Above Destination Management Services’; it is not just a travel company or tour operator selling packages or an Event Management Company pairing the passion for social events and business or a MICE Operator facilitating specialized tours for corporates; it is an all-inclusive global Destination Management Company handling all the above verticals with ease, expertise and efficiency. OneAbove has local expert in-house professional guides and fully trained staff who makes sure that every segment of business carries out effectively. Every DMC is equipped with state-of-art infrastructure with technology and professional friendly manpower to handle complete tourism services.

One Above is 100% B2B committed global company.

Contact Person: Irshad Dadan

Email: irshad@one-above.com | snehal@one-above.com

2. Africa Incoming

Africa Incoming has set its roots as being one of the most reliable DMC for South Africa. We take pride in now calling ourselves an individual firm that not only caters to travel necessities, but offers a complete travel solution.

Email: indiasales@africaincoming.com

3. African Pride Tours

African Pride Tours’ tailor-made itineraries include self-drive or guided FITs, honeymoons, family groups, incentives, special-interest and sports tours. They are the appointed African representatives of Golden Oldies international sports tours.

Email: trevor@africanpride.co.za

4. Albatros

Albatros Travel Africa offers exciting, adventurous, and diverse safari experiences to Southern Africa and East Africa which includes South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana, Victoria Falls, Tanzania, Kenya since 1986. The company is represented by Sapphire Ventures in India.

Email: b2b@svindia.in | tours@albatros.co.za

5. African Wild Travel

African Wild Travel is a proudly South African Travel Company,  a wholesale tour operator specializing in group packages and Individual tailor-made packages for both Local and international.

Email: lizeka@africanwildtravel.co.za | xolani@africanwildtravel.co.za

6. African Link Travel

Afrian Link Travel provides fully inclusive tour arrangements in and around Southern Africa, including meet and greet, transfers, fully escorted group tours, special interest tours and full FIT services.

Email: info@africanlink.co.za

7. By Design Africa

By Design Africa are destination specialists that offer full service hosting, for both domestic and international travellers. During our time in this industry we’ve also carved out a niche as specialists in corporate travel – be it for business meetings, incentives, conferences or events.

Email: zoe@bydesignafrica.com

8. Buja Tours & Safaris

Buja Tours is a tour operator based in Johannesburg, South Africa, that fully understands the needs of the Indian traveller, including the emphasis on culinary requirements, and their range of destinations and adventure activities.

Email: jabu@bujatours.co.za

9. Centurion

Established in 1999, Centurion Travel & Tours is a fully fledged inbound tour operator and DMC (destination management company) operating their own fleet in South Africa, servicing international leisure and corporate markets.

Email: leisure@centuriontours.co.za

10. CRESCO Tours

Cresco Tours ™ offers a wide range of tour packages, from day tours to customised tour packages, be they guided or self-drive, to suit any number of varied interests for both local and international tourists, who are visiting either on business or pleasure, and in the comfort of a small personalised group.

Email: lucille@crescotours.co.za

11. ERM Tours & Safaris

ERM Tours & Safaris is an owner-managed DMC, and one of the first South African tour operators to have established the destination-South Africa, in the Indian market. Our professional, dedicated team is equipped to deal with FIT, group, leisure and MICE markets, having worked on events such as the IIFA Awards, Panasonic and Sony Incentives to name a few.

Email: kavita@ermtours.co.za

12. Hout Bay Tourism Connect 

Hout Bay Tourism Connect (HBTC) is the DMC for the beautiful seaside village of Hout Bay, located in Cape Town, South Africa. The DiscoverHoutBay Route brings authentic experiences that are fun filled and memorable.We bring together visitors and local community and businesses ensuring that these exchanges are impactful and mutually beneficial.

Email: pamela@houtbaycapetown.co.za

13. Miola Safaris

Miola Safaris – Africa, offers complete holiday packages, luxury African safaris and corporate events throughout South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Kenya.

Email: russel@miolasafaris.com

14. Private Safaris

With over forty years of experience, Private Safaris, one of Africa’s leading and most reliable Destination Management Companies provides exceptional holiday experiences for groups or individual travellers to 11 countries in Southern Africa.

Email: monika.iuel@privatesafaris.com

15. Royal African Discoveries

Royal African Discoveries celebrated its 20th year anniversary during 2018. Over this time it has built a solid reputation for providing top-quality service and innovative programmes at competitive rates.

Email: pieter@royalafrica.co.za

16. Southern Africa 360

Southern Africa 360 is an owner-run and managed inbound DMC that has decades of experience in providing outstanding, luxury holiday packages and tours throughout the Southern African region.

Email: collin@southernafrica360.com

17. Springbok Atlas

Springbok Atlas Tours and Safaris is Southern Africa’s leading tour operator and prides itself on its dedicated India inbound department.

Email: india@springbokatlas.com

18. Syavaya

Syavaya Tours provides complete planning and destination management services in all of the major destinations in South Africa. We specialise in the design and delivery of tours, as well as transportation logistics.

Email: sonto@syavayatours.com

19. Thompsons Africa

It is a Destination Management Company supplying meet and greets, transfers, fully escorted and group series tours, MICE, seat-in-vehicle tours, open-vehicle safaris and FIT services in South and Southern Africa.

Email: james.hassan@thompsonsafrica.co.za

20. Tourvest DMC

Tourvest Destination Management’s flagship brand into the Indian market SST merged with the brands Your Africa, Welcome Tourism Services and Focus Tours to form Tourvest DMC in 2017.

Email: sbenadie@tourvest-dmc.com | rnatu@tourvest-dmc.com | nsingh@tourvest-dmc.com

21. Tshuku Transport & Tours

Tshuku Tours is an inbound tour operator located in The Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng with operations throughout South Africa.

Email: info@tshuku.co.za

22. Travcare

A 16-year-old topmost DMC, part of Dhar Group with business interests in IT solutions, real estate, mining and restaurants. They are an expert B2B company, catering to needs of travel houses, HNV individuals, film stars, top business executives, politicians, film producers etc.

Email: holidays@travcare.co.za

23. Tsheloa | Dinare

Tsheola Dinare is a tour operator in South Africa, with a massive experience in tourism, conference and shuttle service industry. With its head offices in Johannesburg, the company’s footprint is found in all corners of the country with its branches in Cape Town and Durban.

Email: namhlam@dinaretours.co.za

24. V2 Travels

V2 Travels Pty Ltd is a South African Destination Management Company based in Cape Town, South Africa. A team of professionals with a combined experience of more than 25 years serving in South Africa.

Email: nishang@v2travels.net | krunal@V2Travels.net

25. Zenith Tours & Safaris

Zenith Tours & Safaris Pty Ltd is an officially registered Destination Management Company which, for over 15 years, has successfully served tourists travelling to Southern Africa (South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia) as well as East Africa (Kenya, Zanzibar, Tanzania).

Email: lana@zenithafrica.com | sales@zenithafrica.com

A few days back, the Indian government offered to supply Covid-19 vaccines, life-saving drugs, test kits and medical equipment to African countries to fight the new Omicron variant of the Coronavirus. We, as part of the tourism industry, stand in strong support of the South African tourism industry and continue to promote the destination as one of the preferred holiday destinations for Indian travellers. Let’s lead the world and it will follow. Because we know, together, it’s possible!

*The visa information on this page was updated last on December 10, 2021. For latest updated information and visa regulations, visit www.visalounge.com