In the travel trade world, word-of-mouth referrals and personal endorsements are the pinnacle of marketing. South African Tourism (SAT)'s initiative ‘Welcome’ seeks to assist all players in the industry to successfully market their businesses and establishments to international and domestic travellers alike. ‘Welcome’ extends a hand to all members of the tourism value chain, from seasoned tourism business owners to young, thriving start-ups and the South African public. By so doing, it demonstrates how going the extra mile to be welcoming and hospitable, South Africa’s tourism industry can easily deliver and showcase its brand promise as a destination of variety; set a benchmark for excellence and increase the number of repeat visitors.
However, for SAT’s Welcome initiative it doesn’t end with a big smile and a firm handshake. SAT Welcome understands that tourists are looking for the whole experience: a warm welcome supported by insightful recommendations and efficient, friendly service. Welcome holds workshops and training sessions countrywide that are designed to inspire, educate, engage and inform. These workshops share practical information relating to market insights, customer profiles, spending patterns, visitor numbers and future trends. The sessions are targeted at tourism trade stakeholders at all industry levels, from general managers of large hotels to cleaners at backpackers. This includes staff and personnel at the visa processing facilities, embassies and consulates in market.
Welcome workshops are supported by a dedicated website – populated with useful fact sheets; downloadable tools; welcome letters in mother tongues; directories for rooms; videos and niche-market recipes. Working in tandem with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ the website is also a space to celebrate international cultural events such as the Chinese New Year in February, and South African equivalents such as Heritage Day.
So if tourism & travel practitioners wish to know specific information about their visitors such as food; culture; economy; where the tourists wish to go and what they want to buy; they need not look further. This resource addresses the disconnect between internal perceptions of South Africans as friendly and welcoming, and the opinion of foreign visitors who rate us poorly in post-visit questionnaires.
To find out more about the Welcome! campaign, click here.
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