A team of Flowstars from the Johannesburg and Cape Town offices came together last week to cover the sixth annual E-Tourism Africa Summit, which took place at the CTICC from Monday 9th to Tuesday 10th September. Hosted by South African Tourism (SAT), the team ensured that there was comprehensive coverage of the conference, and also made sure there were take-home lessons that could benefit the way we, and our clients, do business in an ever-changing digital environment.
The E-Tourism Africa Summit is geared towards those in the travel trade, and brings together a series of speakers who are using technology in new and innovative ways to help customers, resorts, attractions and anyone else in the sector to conduct business. This could be at any point in the journey – from choosing a holiday destination, researching places to stay and things to do, the actual booking process, to being on the actual vacation, and what happens when you get home.
Representatives from established names like Expedia, Facebook, Google, TripAdvisor and Visa came to share their latest findings on the state of the industry, as well as exciting new start-ups that are disrupting the old models of travel and helping give customers more agency in the process. Companies like Triposo, ZapTravel and Think! Social Media are embracing the combined trends of user-generated content, mobile-first thinking and social recommendations to do business in a whole new way, and it was a great opportunity for those in the industry who are just getting to grips with online, to hear what’s happening at the cutting edge.
Check out the video below to see highlights from the event:
Flow staff Andrea Weiss and Gail Cameron shared their top 10 lessons from the conference:
- Travel has become more spontaneous and connected
- Wi-Fi is a travel essential; make it free if you want the customers
- Social media referrals carry more weight than traditional media
- Pictures and videos have strong pulling power
- There are lots of free social media tools you can use
- Innovative campaigns involving real people have huge impact
- Clarity, simplicity and ease of use are hallmarks of online success
- Travellers want to be able to book on the spot
- Many tourists of the future will be coming out of emerging markets
- For travel and tourism, much of the future is in mobile
The conference was attended by all the major players in the industry, and opened on Monday morning with addresses by South African Tourism CEO Thulani Nzima, and Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk.
“Travel searches via Internet are forecast to continue to grow at a rapid rate because digital solutions are becoming crucial in any customer interaction along the tourism value chain,” said Minister Van Schalkwyk. “We must therefore keep our focus on the ever-changing goalpost, and adapt with it to ensure that we gain maximum benefit.”
In a wide-ranging talk, Damian Cook of e-Tourism Frontiers (co-host of the conference) spoke of a world where every hyper-connected traveller is able to instantly communicate with a “small army of engaged, active spectators, each one of whom is a potential future customer”. Fifty-nine percent of all travel is now researched, booked, bought and sold online, according to statistics, and 98% of travellers start their search on the Internet. See his excellent presentation below:
Another highlight was on Day Two, when Gareth Pon introduced the audience to Instagram, and the lengths to which enthusiasts will go to pursue their hobby. With 150-million users worldwide and 680 000 in South Africa, there are ample opportunities for innovative marketing campaigns using this popular photo-sharing app. “It’s a common misperception that Instagram is just good for breakfast, cats and Justin Bieber,” he said.
Flow has a great working relationship with South African Tourism. We were proud to hear William Price, Global Head of Digital, talk about successful campaigns that we have been a part of. With a website that attracts some 3.2-million online visits a year, SAT has taken to heart the need to inspire travellers to come to South Africa through clever, highly visual online marketing campaigns. One of these was an invitation to a group of 15 top international travel bloggers to tour South Africa using #MeetSouthAfrica, with spectacular results. “Be smart, be real, be bold, connect and take risks, remix and have some fun with it ...” Price told the gathering.
Flow’s coverage of the summit went well and, of course, we got the #ETAS13 hashtag to trend nationally on the first day. We engaged with many keen followers who weren’t able to attend in person, both on social networks and by providing a Google Hangout to connect to for every single speaker across the two days.
“The E-tourism Summit is a must-attend event for all those who want to remain at the cutting edge of digital marketing trends,” said Flowstar Leanne Pohlmann. “It was encouraging to hear that South Africa is a market leader and early adopter of most of the social media platforms.
“The mix of international and local speakers kept the two-day programme diverse and interesting, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s event.”