Holiday Swap takes off

Holiday Swap, an innovative new TV show, pioneered by Tourism KwaZulu-Natal and Thebe Tourism Group, is coming to SABC 1 soon. 193 teams have registered to date, with three members per team, and filming is set to start from 22 October.

Every episode will have challenges where the friends experience a holiday thrill that is outside of their comfort zone. Each team will need to score points for completing the challenges and the team with the most points wins. As with any reality TV show, cameras will be with the team every step of the way to showcase the fabulous holiday and share the new experiences with the viewers. The teams will be supported along the way by presenter extraordinaire, Nomzamo Mbatha.
The show aims to unleash the holiday spirit amongst all South Africans. “The majority of South Africans have never experienced a holiday. They have not felt the excitement of travel, or been able to share in the wonderful memories that are created when experiencing a new place or activity. Through Holiday Swap, we believe that many people will see opportunities and activities that they never knew existed in KwaZulu-Natal,” says Jerry Mabena, CEO of Thebe Services.

Another component of the show is the opportunity for viewers to book any of the experiences they see in the programmes. “The benefit of this is that new travellers have a preview of what they will experience, whilst enjoying a fully packaged holiday where all their needs are taken care of – from transport, to accommodation and activities,” said Mabena. Twinned with this will be the ability to finance their holiday, through either a lay-by structure or a tailored finance package to suit everyone’s means.
“This project had a natural synergy for both Thebe and Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, as our founding ethos is on creating transformation in the tourism leisure sector. Therefore this project was a perfect fit for both of us. By including a financial model, along with an innovative travel booking service, will ensure the process of booking and enjoying a holiday is quick and easy. This is particularly important for new travellers, who may be daunted by the challenge of all the logistics – now they can simply send an SMS after the show and book the holiday they’ve just viewed on TV,” said Mabena.