Holidays: What are you looking for?

Do you remember your happiest holiday memory?

I do, and there are three specific things that added to the vividness of the experience. One, it included almost my entire family. Two, cash-flow surprisingly wasn't an issue. And thirdly, we were exploring new things at a ferocious pace with lots of smiles and laughter along the way.

After taking a look at South African Tourism's latest attempt to get South Africans travelling more within their own country - I'd say they pretty much have these bases covered.

The campaign's tagline is: "Whatever you are looking for, it's right here in South Africa".
With a Sho't left injection of World Cup Fever back in 2010, I think South Africans only then for the first time started to appreciate their backyard for the holiday beauty that it is.

Sometimes the pricing was not so pretty but with a good dose of recession-itis having done the rounds most establishments have cottoned onto the lifeblood of the domestic market and the need to offer South African's exclusive rates and incentives.

According to the latest stats from South African Tourism, us locals contributed to 76 percent of the country's total tourism volume in 2011, adding R20-billion to the economy. If the latest campaign is to be a success then domestic trips should be boosted from 26.4-million in 2011 to 54-million by 2020.

South Africa's Tourism Minister, Marthinus van Schalkwyk says, "The campaign will be broader in its appeal than its predecessor Sho't Left."

Operated under the auspices of the vayamzansi.mobi site, here's an outline of what you can expect via special offers, value-adds, radio and television advertising:

• Spontaneous budget explorers - offers for impulsive short breaks with friends or activity-filled breaks.

• New-horizon families - ideal holiday pacakges that make the perfect reward after all the hard work, including special holiday and flight deals.

• High-life enthusiasts - Offers for the go-getter, with a focus on exceptional service and luxury experiences.

• Seasoned leisure travellers -offering you value of memory over commodity, offers of travel to relax and spend time with loved ones.

• Well-to-do Mzansi families - Travel to escape the city, stress and the pressures of daily life - offering special deals and offers to new and different locations to relax in.

It's also interesting to note that, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) global traffic results for March have shown that total passenger demand rose 7.6%. African airlines specifically reported a 14.3% rise in traffic. Admittedly it is being compared to figures compromised by the Arab Spring back in 2011. Thus it will be interesting to see if these offers make us go VayaMzansi or Vaya Africa.

Watch the advert below and why not post a comment to tell us what you think of the campaign.