For Africa to increase its four per cent share of the global travel pie it needs to embrace the Internet and work harder at its e-strategies, because technology provides the continent with the best opportunity to compete globally, says Smart Guides MD, Paul de Waal. He told the recent E Tourism Africa Summit in Cape Town the South African travel industry was behind the times in terms of travel technology and needed to catch up and match other destinations in the world. “Our industry is in distress because the local currency is strong, resulting in South Africa being an expensive destination. “We must provide great (online) content because content sells. We must make it simpler (online) to sell our products and make it easier to book (online) so we can get access to new markets,” he stressed. The travel industry worldwide, he said, was in transition because of the Internet. Travel has become the biggest online commodity. Some 80 per cent of travel begins with research online and increasingly people are buying their travel online. The implication, he said, was that the middlemen – the travel agent and tour operators – were being removed, connecting the client directly with the product. This meant it was vital for travel businesses to have an online presence and to engage in e-marketing. He said for travel to Africa, the situation looked slightly different, with most overseas clients still buying through travel agents and tour operators. The reason for this was clients’ lack of education about Africa, a general lack of information on the Internet, fear of the unknown, a challenging infrastructure, security concerns and technology challenges. His advice to South African travel businesses is:
• Support the business channels that bring you business
• Give them better content that will help them sell your business
• Understand and then invest in e-marketing
• Use social media, blogs and e-newsletters
• Distribute good-quality content through as many channels as possible, off- and online
• Ensure that the enquire/booking process is as easy as possible
• Use online maps to make your content accessible, get people to interact online
• Use E-brochures because they are cheaper to produce than printed ones and easier to update and change.