South Africans: take a Sho't Left!
20 July 2005
South Africans - want to explore the country, but not sure where to start? Want to take a holiday, but think you can't afford it? Tourism isn't only for overseas visitors: take a Sho't Left and start to find out how much of your country you don't know - and how getting there could be a lot easier than you thought ...
SA Tourism's Sho't Left campaign aims to promote a culture of local holiday travel, targeting ordinary South Africans and their families who have a desire to travel but do not know where to go.
"Sho't left" is derived from everyday South African "taxi-lingo" - a commuter wanting a ride to a destination close by will say "Sho't left, driva", meaning, I want to jump off just around the corner.
Converting interest into bookings
"The focus for Sho't Left this year is on converting the interest into actual bookings, and getting people to get out there and discover more of beautiful Mzansi," says
Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk.
Sho't Left has partnered with the Association of Southern African Travel Agents (Asata) and its retail network of more than 5 000 agents to make it easier for the public to get information on, and book, affordable Sho't Left holidays.
SA Tourism is also working with Asata on developing the Sho't Left Enterprise Programme, in which travel agencies will employ domestic agents to stimulate the domestic travel market - and boost job creation and skills transfer at the same time.
The Sho't Left website
The Sho't Left website - www.southafrica.net/shotleft - has been designed specifically to help more South Africans to take a holiday.
The site offers advice for first-timers on choosing, budgeting for, booking and paying for a holiday, as well as tips on packing, travelling with children, documents to take
along, and more.
It also offers information on affordable holidays, and holiday packages, in all nine provinces, broken down by province or by type of getaway - bush retreats, city breaks, coastal getaways, countryside meanders, cultural discoveries, mountain escapes, and sport/adventure outings.
The site also runs special promotions - including Fun Bus Sho't Breaks to the Free State and Golden Gate National Park, or from Johannesburg to Durban and back - with a number of value-adds thrown in.
"Affordable holiday travel is possible - so what are you waiting for? Let's Waai!"
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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