Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Al Tayer Travel Agency, the travel and tourism business of Al Tayer Group, is proud to announce its appointment as the exclusive general sales agent (GSA) in GCC for ERM Tours & Safaris, a luxury tour operator delivering world-class African experiences. Al Tayer Travel Agency’s strong footprint in the Middle East’s leisure and MICE sectors combined with ERM Tours & Safaris’ strategic local networks and experience means that travellers can now look forward to an enhanced travel experience.
 
From city life to adventure, wildlife to culture, breath-taking scenery to sun-soaked coasts, South Africa is becoming one of the most desired destinations in the world. According to recent research*, the growth in visitors to South Africa from the Middle East is out-performing other source markets with total arrivals in 2016 exceeding 53,000, representing a 36% increase on the previous year.
 
Commenting on the announcement of the partnership, Barry Hurter, CEO of ERM Tours & Safaris said: ‘This partnership represents a strategic milestone for our company. We believe that there is great potential to grow demand in the GCC and are pleased to have appointed Al Tayer Travel Agency as our GSA for the region. With their considerable experience of the market and long-established reputation, we are confident that together we can bolster tourism numbers from the Middle East to South and East Africa to drive our business forward and deliver our ambitious growth targets.”
 
Manu Mehrotra, General Manager, Al Tayer Travel Agency added: “South Africa is becoming an increasingly popular travel destination for tourists from the Middle East and we are delighted to have been chosen as ERM Tours & Safaris’ exclusive partner in GCC. ERM Tours & Safaris is a leading tour operator and is aligned with our commitment to develop the high-end fully inclusive tour (FIT) leisure and MICE market sectors in South and East Africa. Offering a comprehensive range of travel related services to our customers has always been one of our key aims and we look forward to working with ERM Tours & Safaris to further expand on our breadth of products and offer world class travel experiences.”
 
Al Tayer Travel Agency represents may other leading destinations and tour operators as their official wholesaler in the UAE including Disneyland Paris, Disney Cruise Line, Walt Disney World and Rail Europe.

-Ends-

*Statistics SA

© Press Release 2017