TO STAY relevant, travel
companies must embrace
digital technology and
rethink the way they do
business. This was the
message at the recent
E-Tourism Africa Summit.
Opening the two-day event,
Minister of Tourism, Derek
Hanekom, said technology
allowed tourists to interact
with the destination they were
visiting as well as each other.
For the travel trade, he said it
was a cost-effective route to
market their business, adding
that the industry should create
enabling environments to allow
tech-savvy travellers to share
their experiences.
Damian Cook, ceo of
E-Tourism Frontiers and creator
of the E-Tourism Africa Summit,
said travel had become a usercontrolled
environment. Up
to 95% of travellers said they
used the Internet to research
their trip, however, he said web
use had dropped by 70% as
more people were using social
media.
He said images were having
less impact than they used
to because of the volume of
content available. Traditional,
generic travel pics were no
longer as effective as those
conveying an experience to the
audience. He said video was
hard to ignore and that travelspecific
searches on YouTube
had doubled in the past year.
Social media was a
major talking point at the
summit and Damian said
travel was the most popular
shared experience. The lineup
of speakers included
representatives from Facebook,
Twitter and Google who
encouraged the industry to
market themselves on their
platforms with good content
and interaction.
Billy Lousteau, client
solutions manager subSaharan
Africa for Facebook,
said in SA mobile presented a
huge opportunity and this was
where most people accessed
the Internet.
Brett St Clair, Google for
Work country manager South
Africa, said: “The world
seems to have been taken
over by children with devices.
We are forced to change
but we still travel the same
way.” However, he added
that to be discovered online,
travel businesses needed
to immerse themselves in
digital technology. He said that
Google loved social media
as it was often rich content
that focused on experiences.
Brett added that companies
shouldn’t worry about the
burden of technology by
introducing and running
expensive admin systems.
Instead they should worry
about their customers and how
to inspire them.
Sonal Patel, Twitter exchange
manager, said four in every ten
Twitter users followed travel
brands. She said every second
someone tweeted about a
hotel, while every two seconds
there was a tweet about a
flight. She gave five tips for
using the platform effectively:
know your audience; build a
wider audience; tweet regularly;
engage your followers and
track your success.
