Watching all the coverage and social media comments about the possible Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship, I could not help but wonder about the marketing agency that is advising SA Tourism about its strategic marketing approach.

If we look strategically at what our country needs at the moment to grow arrivals, this particular proposal will be pretty ineffective as a promotional tactic. Sports sponsorships are certainly an extremely effective tactic for creating greater awareness of a destination. Rwanda will benefit from its sponsorship as a relatively lesser-known destination in Africa. This type of exposure will elevate it to being an option when tourists are considering an African destination. South Africa, however, has excellent awareness in our current and future markets. Most potential visitors will already consider our country as an option if they start to research their trip to our continent.

What does SA need to grow tourism?

The logo prominence that comes with sports sponsorships is not what we need in our tourism strategy right now.  What we do need at present is to focus on the emotional trigger moments that lead prospects into the Dreaming Phase of their tourism customer journey. Destination Canada has found in research that only 1% of prospects who enter this next phase will actually book their trip to Canada. So the priority should be to get a lot more of our potential visitors into this phase and logo coverage is not going to achieve that to any influential degree. Awareness simply gets you in the game. Getting prospects into actively dreaming about visiting South Africa is the essential tactic to win the game. So, to increase the arrivals to SA, we need to apply the type of budget being contemplated for this sponsorship to getting substantially more prospects into the Dreaming Phase. We can then add the tactics that convert the Dreamers into Bookers.

The post-COVID market trends have presented us with an amazing opportunity to win market share from other long-haul destinations. A look at the strategies and innovation of Australia’s Queensland Tourism Body, TEQ, will show how a deep understanding of the industry has guided their highly successful strategy and actions.

It’s why they are kicking our butts. I believe that achieving the arrivals growth that we all dream of will take new tactics that leverage the emerging trends and motivators that would drive tourists to choose us. Research tells us that 84% of Generation Z visitors are inspired to choose a new destination based on posts by their social media groups and we need to brainstorm tactics to leverage this opportunity.

Brainstorming sessions

There are many tourism entrepreneurs who would love to be part of such brainstorming sessions. The result could be the generation of innovative new ideas that would turn our visitors into our promoters. This would result in our unique tourism moments and stories being posted by our current visitors to their social groups.

These could be the inspiration that drives the recipients to visit SA. Now could be a good time to create a Seth Godin-type three-day session in a remote village, with tourism officials and tourism businesses from across our country. Stakeholders from towns and smaller businesses are often not part of the national strategy sessions. This would also enhance the insights and ideas that are generated.

Do you agree with Van Eck or do you have other suggestions? Please email: adelem@nowmedia.co.za with your comments/suggestions.

About the author: With over 30 years as a tourism marketing expert and destination consultant, Shaun van Eck is passionate about making an impact on destination tourism and, amongst others, has written the first business book for tourism entrepreneurs in South Africa. The book is practical and easy-to-use and provides a set of templates for tourism entrepreneurs on marketing, service and self-leadership.