South African Tourism is expanding its market access efforts across North and Central Europe, bringing South African tourism businesses closer to consumers, tour operators and travel agents in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany ahead of a major January 2027 programme.
The tourism authority is inviting South African travel trade partners, tourism product owners and businesses to apply for two market access opportunities: The Getaway by Vakantiebeurs 2027 in Utrecht and a series of trade engagements that will take place across eight cities in the three European markets.
The two initiatives are designed to serve different parts of the travel industry. The Getaway will give South African businesses an opportunity to engage directly with Dutch consumers, while the market access programme will focus on developing commercial relationships with tour operators and travel agents who sell and package holidays to South Africa.
For South African Tourism, the wider objective is to turn international market interest into practical opportunities for tourism businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises that may not otherwise have direct access to overseas distribution networks.
“Collaboration with the private sector is essential to growing tourism to South Africa and creating market access for our tourism businesses,” said Ismail Dockrat, Chief Operations Officer at South African Tourism.
Dockrat said the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium remain important source markets for South Africa, with opportunities to attract new visitors while encouraging previous travellers to return. He also pointed to the importance of connecting South African product owners with the companies responsible for packaging and selling holidays in those markets.
The scale of those markets is reflected in the latest arrival figures. Germany and the Netherlands were South Africa’s second and third-largest European source markets in 2025 respectively. Together with Belgium, they generated 481,267 tourist arrivals, representing 34.0% of all arrivals from Europe.
The Netherlands recorded 140,338 arrivals between January and December 2025, an increase of 6.0% compared with 2024. Germany generated 290,795 arrivals, up 14.0%, while Belgium contributed 50,134, an increase of 10.9%.
The upward trend continued during the first seven months of 2026. Between January and July, South Africa recorded 84,002 arrivals from the Netherlands, 11.6% more than during the corresponding period of 2025. Germany produced 166,429 arrivals, an increase of 17.0%, while Belgium recorded 29,106, up 8.1%. Combined, the three markets accounted for 279,537 arrivals during the seven-month period.
Against that backdrop, the January 2027 programme is intended to strengthen the commercial links behind those visitor numbers.
The first opportunity will take place at Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, where South African Tourism’s North Europe Hub will host the South African Pavilion from January 7 to 10. The programme will begin with a Professional Day focused on the distribution channel on January 7, followed by consumer days from January 8 to 10.
The event, now being presented as The Getaway: An Experience by Vakantiebeurs, is being repositioned around experiences rather than simply destination promotion. South African Tourism plans to use food and wine activations on the pavilion to create a stronger connection with visitors, while participating suppliers will have the opportunity to propose additional activations as part of their applications, with those activities funded by the suppliers themselves.
The second component will move beyond Utrecht and into a wider trade network. Between January 12 and 22, participating South African businesses will join market access engagements in Utrecht, Haarlem, Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Brussels and Antwerp in Belgium, and Dusseldorf and Frankfurt in Germany.
The programme is looking for businesses able to demonstrate a clear fit with what travellers in these markets are seeking, including distinctive experiences, responsible tourism and value for money. There is also an emphasis on products capable of attracting both first-time visitors and people returning to South Africa, including experiences that extend beyond the country’s more established tourism routes.
That focus reflects a broader shift in how destinations are being presented to international buyers. Rather than relying only on familiar attractions, South African Tourism says its hub teams are working with businesses to develop differentiated itineraries, particularly experiences that can introduce travellers to less established routes and products.
Digital preparation will form part of that process. Businesses selected to participate will work with the hub teams to develop digital itineraries, which will then be reviewed by travel professionals in the region for market readiness. The itineraries will be considered for both mid-market and traditional high-end segments, while also giving participating businesses an opportunity to build visibility before the face-to-face trade engagements begin.
The programme will also introduce a more direct digital introduction between suppliers and European buyers. Each participating product will have an elevator pitch sent to buyers ahead of the trade engagements, giving them an early introduction to the businesses they will meet. The pitches can also be accompanied by AI-enabled translations in Dutch, Flemish, German and French.
Dockrat linked the approach to a wider effort to combine digital tools with direct human relationships in tourism. Quoting the Minister of Tourism’s recent description of tourism as “a human business”, he said the organisation is seeking to maintain that human element while expanding the tools available to South African tourism businesses to reach international markets.
For companies competing for attention in established European source markets, the significance of the programme lies not only in attending a trade show or meeting buyers. The process is designed to help businesses prepare their products for the expectations of specific markets, develop itineraries that can be sold through established distribution channels and present their experiences to buyers before they arrive at the meetings.
Applications for both The Getaway by Vakantiebeurs 2027 and the South Africa Market Access Trade Engagements close on Thursday, October 1, 2026, at 17:00 South African Standard Time.
The January programme comes as visitor numbers from the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium continue to rise, giving South African tourism businesses an opportunity to build on existing demand while introducing European travellers and travel professionals to a wider range of experiences across the country.
