Tor, Tor, Tor for DerTour

One hundred travel agents working for German tour operator DERTOUR visited Namibia in January for a first-hand experience of African flair and the Namibia feeling. The Gondwana Collection hosted a welcome evening for them in its own shebeen at the Windhoek head office. This event completely bowled over the German travel agents.
DERTOUR’s Director for Africa, Petra Fraatz, thanked the sponsors of the Country Special – the Namibia Tourism Board, Air Namibia, the Gondwana Collection, Safari Court Hotel and especially Sense of Africa as the organiser on site – for their generous support and hospitality. She ended her observation with the line “Namibia is definitely worth a visit” to the enthusiastic applause of the DERTOUR travel agents.

Split into five groups, the DERTOUR staffers travelled through Namibia for several days on different routes. Group 1, for example, first visited Kalahari Anib Lodge on the fringe of the Kalahari, followed by Namib Desert Lodge at the foot of the fossilised dunes of the Namib, Damara Mopane Lodge near Khorixas in Damaraland and Etosha Safari Camp. There were also viewings at other lodges and they stopped at various sights. The group was unanimous that Etosha was the highlight of their trip: “We watched a pride of five lions take a giraffe. Right in front of our eyes, at the parking site!” one exclaimed.
Once back in Germany, the travel agents are able to share first-hand experiences with clients and thus sell the travel destination Namibia in a more authentic and enthusiastic way. According to the NTB, bookings to Namibia rose by some 30% after the two previous DERTOUR Country Specials  in 2006 and 2009.