Hello,

I thought your readers might like the opportunity to enter a holiday competition with a difference, which goes live TODAY (20 Feb).

2by2 Holidays - the Africa tour operator which specialises in family holidays to many destinations in southern and east Africa - has teamed up with South African Tourism to launch the 'Feel Different' competition, with the prize of £5,000 towards a bespoke holiday to South Africa.   


So, if you want to leave the children with grandparents and reconnect with each other, then this prize will cover the costs of a holiday of a life-time for two.  If you want to make it a family trip, then the prize will take care of most of the bill for a family holiday that will give you all the most incredible memories for years to come. 
 

The theme of the competition is that South Africa makes you ‘feel different’. So, all you have to do to enter is go to their sitewww.2by2holidays.co.ukand click on the competition link, and tell the specialist operator how you want to feel different. The competition will run until 25 March.

Full details below, let me know if you'd like any more information or high res images.

 
Also, Claire Farley, founder of 2by2 Holidays is South African born and is a wealth of knowledge on destinations in southern and east Africa that are suitable for families to visit, so if you would like help with any future 'where to go on holiday with your family' features you are writing, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Sophie Banks

Loudbird PR and Communications

2by2 Holidays joins forces with South African Tourism to launch a holiday competition with a difference
 

Southern and east Africa specialist operator 2by2 Holidays has teamed up with South African Tourism to launch a competition – Feel Different – that opens today and gives one lucky winner £5,000 towards a completely tailor-made holiday to South Africa.     

The theme of the competition is that South Africa makes you 'feel different', so the 'Feel Different' competition, which runs from 20 February until 25 March and will be supported by South African Tourism, will encourage people to log on to 2by2 Holidays' website (www.2by2holidays.co.uk) and tell the specialist how they want the holiday to make them feel. 2by2 Holidays will respond to each entry with a South African holiday recommendation.
 
 

For example, an entrant may say: "I want to feel... reconnected my children again as my hectic work schedule means we don't spend any quality time together." 2by2 Holidays could suggest that the entrant reconnect with their children on safari in a malaria-free game reserve, ending the experience with some family-fun time at the activity-packed Sun City resort.

Each week, for five weeks, five finalists will be chosen based on the following criteria:

• Impact - how will the person entering be affected by the win?

• Creativity - how original is the idea?

• Quality of submission - how much thought and effort went into the submission?

• Number of online votes received - how did the online community respond to the submission?

• At the end of five weeks, a panel of judges will select from the 25 finalists and one lucky winner will win a South African holiday for two valued at £5,000.

Runner-up prizes include copies of Nelson Mandela's book Long Walk to Freedom.

To enter the competition, log on towww.2by2holidays.co.uk

To book a holiday to South Africa, log on towww.2by2holidays.co.ukor call 01582 766122

– ENDS –

Notes to editors 

Press contact: Sophie Banks 
sophie@loudbird.co.uk 
07815 147073

 

Family holidays with 2by2 Holidays

From spotting the big five in a malaria-free safari park, surfing the waves in Port Elizabeth or zipping up to the peak of Cape Town's Table Mountain, 2by2 Holidays' unrivalled connections with operators, accommodation providers, ground handlers and tour guides allow the specialist the opportunity to tailor-make packages to suit every member of the family.

2by2 Holidays' new product for 2012

• A new self-drive tour of the Limpopo region of South Africa. Limpopo is situated in the far northern region of South Africa – a land of gigantic baobab trees, huge herds of elephants and the “great grey-green greasy Limpopo River” made famous by Rudyard Kipling. Here you can also visit Mapungubwe, an ancient archaeological site where two golden rhino sculptures were found and the beautiful Soutpansberg Mountains.

• A twin-centre self-drive itinerary that combines Kruger Park with Mozambique

• 2by2 Holidays has introduced a whole new holiday range – genealogy holidays. With unrivalled connections with operators, accommodation providers, ground handlers and tour guides in South Africa, 2by2 Holidays can tailor-make a holiday to offer clients the chance to follow in the footsteps of one of their ancestors. The operator will also help clients track down one birth, marriage or similar certificate, to get them started on their journey of discovery.

About 2by2 Holidays

• 2by2 Holidays won South African Tourism’s prestigious Ubuntu marketing award at World Travel Market, beating off competition from Kuoni and Bridge and Wickers, to scoop a £25,000 cash prize for devising a competition that will attract visitors to South Africa.

• 2by2 won the award for its ‘Feel Different’ promotional strategy, which is in synergy with South African Tourism's own key messages and priorities, encouraging people to visit and experience what South Africa has to offer and 'Leave Ordinary Behind'.

• 2by2 Holidays (www.2by2holidays.co.uk) was established 10 years ago with an aim to create inspiring safari holidays to Southern and East Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands.

• The operator features South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zanzibar, Uganda, Zambia and Victoria Falls and Zimbabwe.

• 2by2 Holidays invents, inspires and tailor-makes bespoke African holidays to suit traveller’s individual needs. The operator’s contacts in the countries that it features are second to none and allow 2by2 to satisfy any customer’s enquiry.

• The specialist is passionate about delivering fantastic, unique, holidays in Africa, and have strong relationships with ground handlers, accommodation providers and tour guides in southern and east Africa, who help to deliver a personalised holiday experience.

• 2by2 Holidays is an expert in providing tailor-made holidays to Southern and Eastern Africa - from the well-trodden tourist trail of Cape Town, the Garden Route and safari in the Eastern Cape to the more off-the-beaten-track experiences. 2by2 also specialises in providing holidays for the disabled, families, couples looking to get married, bird watchers, sports-themed breaks and voluntourism.

About South Africa 

South Africa: 5 Differences 
South Africa is like no other destination on earth. South Africa is different. People feel different when they visit.

Why? 

1. The Difference is ... the unique history 
Brought to life through the places you visit such at the apartheid museum in Johannesburg and the District Six museum in Cape Town, which tells the story of forced removals during the apartheid era. It is felt inside the corridors of Robben Island’s prison museum and on the battlefields of the great Zulu Kingdom.

Visit the Cradle of Humankind, a world heritage site in Gauteng, where some of the oldest hominid fossils have been found. Travel more than 700 feet beneath the surface of the earth to experience what life was like for miners on the Johannesburg reef during the gold rush.

South Africa, a land rich in history and lessons in humility.

Feel humbled, inspired, encouraged, enriched and proud of our humanity.

2. The Difference is ... the natural beauty 
Home to the smallest and richest floral kingdom in the world – the Cape Floral Kingdom – South Africa offers an abundance of natural beauty. Kirstenbosch Gardens cultivates only indigenous plants and is one of eight national botanical gardens.

Take a cable car trip up Table Mountain, recently voted one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature, for a

birds eye view of South Africa’s “Mother City”, Cape Town. Travel along the magnificent Garden Route in the Eastern Cape, a stretch of ecologically diverse coastline dotted with lakes and lagoons.

From the lush beauty of Southern Africa’s highest mountain range, the Drakensberg in KwaZulu Natal, to the arid and remote desert landscape of the Richtersveld in the Northern Cape, South

Africa’s natural beauty is diverse and illustrates the true miracle of nature.

Feel rejuvenated, renewed and restored by the magnificent beauty of nature.

3. The Difference is ... the wildlife 
South Africa is home to the Big 5: leopard, lion, elephant, rhino and buffalo. View Africa’s wildlife in their natural habitat at one of the many wildlife reserves in South Africa. Most famous is the Kruger National Park, one of the largest wildlife reserves in Africa, covering almost 20,000 square kilometers.

The Kgalagadi Transfronteir Park straddles the border between South Africa and Botswana and covers a total area of 38,000 square kilometers. The Addo Elephant Park in the Eastern Cape began as a sanctuary to protect the Knysna elephant and Cape buffalo from extinction and Hluhluwe Game Reserve in KwaZulu Natal, known for its rhino conservation efforts, is home to the largest population of white rhino in the world.

Off land visitors can experience the magnificence of South Africa’s sea life during the annual whale breeding season in September, when Southern Right Whales calve along the shores of the Cape Coast. Great White Sharks are known to breach along the coast line of Cape Point, one of the few places in the world where this occurs.

Feel alive, awakened and amazed by the magnificence of the African wild.

4. The Difference is ... the adventure 
South Africa offers a myriad of adventure opportunities. From tree top swinging along steel cables suspended high above the floor of the Tsitsikamma Forest to white water rafting along the Orange River in the Northern Cape or scuba diving in Sodwana Bay, KwaZulu Natal, at the most southerly coral reefs in the world.

For the more extreme adventurers, South Africa is home to the world’s highest bungee jump (216 metres) at Bloukrans Bridge along the Garden Route. Visitors to Gaansbaai in the Western Cape can shark cage dive in an area with a high population of Great White Sharks.

Feel exhilarated, energized and renewed. Revitalise mind, body and soul.

5. The Difference is ... the diverse cultures and traditions 
The African philosophy of Ubuntu, often spoken of as the “essence of being human”, proposes that one cannot exist as a human being in isolation and that we are who we are because of who we all are. It speaks of our interconnectedness, the strength of community and the impact that everything we do has on the world around us. By definition, a positive impact on our community will spread to enable a positive impact on the world.


South African leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu are recognized as being people with Ubuntu, who have made it their life’s work to enable and improve the communities around them, in so doing, enabling and improving their own lives.

 
South Africa, also known as the “Rainbow Nation”, is a country of diverse cultures and traditions and where 11 official languages are spoken. South Africa is home to a variety of tribal groups including the Zulu and Bushman people. Visitors can experience the many tastes, traditions, dances, creative arts and music of the diverse South African people at restaurants, markets, theatres, cultural village tours and art exhibitions across the country.

Feel connected, enriched and uplifted. Learn and grow through authentic experience.