South African Tourism recently revamped its online training platform and, thanks to the the hard-working team at Flow, the newly-launched SA Specialist website has been a big hit so far.
SA Specialist is an online learning platform designed to teach people in the travel trade about the country. It is mainly geared towards people working overseas who often have to sell holiday packages to South Africa, but may have never visited themselves (that said, it is also popular with the South African travel trade and tourism and hospitality students). It offers a crash course for members of the travel trade such as travel agents, to learn all the basics needed to successfully sell South Africa to their clients. This allows them to talk with some authority about what to see in Johannesburg or Cape Town, how much money one ought to take, or where the best safari spots are, for example.
The previous training portal, known as SA Fundi, was several years old when South African Tourism approached Flow about a site revamp. They wanted a modern-looking, easy-to-use site, which could be accessed and understood by users around the world.
“Flow were asked to help us redevelop the whole SA Fundi site, which had a number of user-experience problems,” explains Bontle Madiba, Online Trade Specialist at South African Tourism. “They also worked in partnership with Fogg to implement the new design.”
The project was a massive undertaking, and technically complex – Flow had to keep some elements of the old Fundi database intact while moving over to the new one (sometimes while people were still mid-course!), and then had to ensure that every single piece of new content developed, every button and every certificate awarded was translated into the relevant language of the user. With the help of translation company Lionbridge Technologies base in Europe, SA Specialist is now offered in the following languages:
- English
- German
- Chinese
- Spanish
- French
- Italian
- Dutch
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Japanese
The renaming to SA Specialist was also to help align the site with other similar training resources found elsewhere in the world, such as the Aussie Specialist Program and the 100% Pure New Zealand Specialist Programme.
Reatile Tshikalange, head developer for this project, says that the project was a challenge.
“There were some teething issues at first, but nothing that Flowstars couldn’t handle! I am happy with the outcome of the site. There is room for growth, and we are already busy on Phase 2, which will engage users in an even more exciting way.”
Users can log in from anywhere in the world and register on the site (for free). After that, they can sign up to various modules, and will have to pass a test on each one to move on to the next. There are four basic and compulsory modules on South Africa in general, and a further nine (one for each province). To qualify as an SA Specialist and earn a certificate, users need to pass the four basic modules, plus three province modules. Once qualified, SA Specialists can connect with other SA Specialists and make social and networking connections on the site.
Flow’s design studio manager, Lorraine Gumede, led the design implementation for the new site. From a content point of view, Kate Turkington, one of the premier travel writers in South Africa, piloted the first module and produced the blueprint for the rest, which were then populated by Flowstars Melanie Feris and Christine Marot, with editing by Keith Nicholls and Tara Turkington.
Tara Turkington, Flow CEO, promises that this is only Phase 1 for SA Specialist, with lots more still to come. “The current SA Specialist site will provide a foundation that will hopefully continue to build for many years,” she says. “The reaction has been very good so far, and as one of the major projects Flow has rolled out in the past year, we are very proud of the results.
“Like the work we did for South African Tourism’s US website, this was a long and complicated project. The team at South African Tourism, led by Bontle Madiba in this case, were fabulous to work with. They are passionate, committed and always insistent on delivering the best possible quality, so are wonderful partners.”
Phase 2 promises more experience-based modules around certain themes (such as adventure, culture and wildlife), and a lot more video integration, too – once finished, travel agents will be able to give their clients a first-person view of a Bloukrans bungee jump, or white-water rafting on the Orange River, for instance.
“Everybody at the SAT offices is very pleased with the new site. For me, I can see the long-term vision, and am keen to get rolling on the next phases,” says Bontle.
“Flow are a great bunch. I really love working with them – they are approachable, and offer great ideas.”
Why not consider becoming an SA Specialist yourself? Check it out here: http://saspecialist.southafrica.net.