I’ve been lucky enough to go on some agent famils in my time but Mega Lekker 2025 in South Africa was definitely one of the best, writes Traveltalk’s Jon Underwood.
The idea was to take more than 100 travel agents and media from Australasia and show them first hand what this fascinating country has to offer.
The second annual Mega Lekker Escape – Lekker meaning nice or enjoyable – saw 10 simultaneous famils take place across seven provinces, each led by a wholesaler, and culminating in a two-day training event at the Sun City resort in the Pilanesberg game reserve.
Following the last Mega Lekker Escape, 90 per cent of participating agents booked trips to South Africa within the first year.
Each group was given an animal name linked to Africa and so it was I found myself part of the Honey Badgers, along with our excellent host Lindsay from Above and Beyond Holidays and six travel agents from around Australia, all of whom had never travelled in South Africa before.
Above: The Honey Badgers at the Cape of Good Hope
Over the course of the famil we visited the impressive Hazendal Wine Estate in the Cape Winelands, enjoyed a walking food tour of Cape Town, then headed north for some game drives in the Madikwe and Welgevonden Game Reserves.
We got stranded by flood waters and were almost homeless, had a close encounter with a disgruntled elephant, I slept in Adam Sandler’s bed (long story) and enjoyed a delicious lunch aboard one of the world’s most luxurious trains, hosted by Rovos Rail.
While there were many highlights (notably seeing a leopard on our very first game drive), it was the reaction from my fellow travellers that will stick in my mind the most. Seeing animals in the wild is a life-changing experience and I know that experience brought some of my group to tears.
More than just a familiarisation trip, Mega Lekker Escape is also designed to showcase South Africa’s commitment to sustainability and conservation, community engagement and cultural diversity.
To that end, participants also learned and interacted with small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) beyond the main tourism attractions to discover hidden gems, delivering market access to a total of 35 SMMEs.
Along with others on the trip, our group donated goods to Esibayeni home-based care service, while another helped a rhino rescue mission to assist an injured rhino at Mabula lodge (below).
“This initiative is critical to our ongoing post-COVID recovery, as the pandemic resulted in a significant turnover of travel agents in the market and among that we lost agents with destination expertise,” commented Darryl Erasmus, South African Tourism’s Chief Operating Officer.
“We’ve seen the success of bridging this gap with first-hand experience in terms of sales, however most importantly, the inclusion of SMMEs, sustainable and community-based experiences, fulfils our mission as South African Tourism to ensure that tourism grows and contributes to inclusive economic participation and opportunities and is enjoyed by all South Africans as well as those who visit.”
A total of nine ANZ wholesalers – Above and Beyond Holidays, Adventure Destinations, The Africa Safari Co., Adventure World (AU and NZ), Bench, MW Tours, This Is Africa, Viva Expeditions and World Journeys – arranged and hosted the famils while South African Airways was the airline partner.
ANZ Wholesalers and South African Tourism team
Given the continuing success of the Mega Lekker event, I’m guessing there will be even more boots on the ground in 2026. Stand by for the invite stampede!
# Look out for more stories from Mega Lekker 2025 in coming weeks.
The Honey Badgers were:
Carly Hann – Luxury Travel Company
Jennifer Greenwood – Southlands Travel & Cruise
Amanda Marsh – Travel Key
Peta Godfrey – Travel Focus Group
Tina Vlahos – Global Travel Network
Lindsay Fortner – Above and Beyond Holidays
Jane Topalian – The Travel Agent at Caloundra
