Opening Presentation by Damian Cook from E-Tourism Frontiers at the 5th Annual E-Tourism Africa Summit in Cape Town September 2012

3. WE WILL BE STARTING IN 5
MINUTES

7. HASHTAG:
#ETourismAfrica

8. WIFI
Network:
E Tourism Summit
Password:
capetown

11. FACTS & FIGURES

12. BUT FIRST A GRAPH...

13. AUDIENCE BOREDOM INDEX
(ABI)
AUDIENCE INTEREST
HOW FASCINATING
100
75
50
25
10mins
20mins
30mins
40mins 0
50mins
60mins KILL ME NOW
SLIDE 34

14. THE FUTURE IS
ONLINE
• 58% of all travel is now researched, booked
bought and sold online
• 96% of travellers start their research on
the internet
• Travel sales are expected to double this
year, exceeding $300 Billion

15. Avoiding Extinction

16. GLOBAL MARKET
CHALLENGES
• Tour Operator driven model is diminishing
• KPMG lists 49% of TOs as in decline and 24
major TOs bankrupted in 2011including
Thomas Cook
• Online regarded as motivating factor
• Lack of customized and dynamic travel
bookings

17. Leading Source for Travel
Information

18. THE FUTURE IS
SOCIAL
• 40% on average of all time online is spent
social networking
• Facebook is one of the largest populations
on earth with over 850 Million people
• Social media is more popular and powerful
than TV and print media combined

19. REACHING THE
ONLINE MARKET

20. Freedom

21. Customization

22. Scrutiny

23. Integrity

24. Collaboration

25. Entertainment

26. Speed

27. Innovation

28. E-Tourism means
• Communicating the right
• Content across a variety of
• Channels to the best value
• Clients who will
• Convert to a sale and keep
• Coming back

29. This means
• Realtime Bookability and E-Commerce
• Strong Social Media Presence
• Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Channel, Blog..
• Managing Online Relationships
• Managing and Optimizing Conversion

30. KNOW YOUR
MARKET TO GROW
YOUR MARKET

31. THE FUTURE OF
GROWTH WILL BE
ABOUT YIELD AND
NOT ARRIVALS

32. THE FUTURE TRAVELLER
WILL TRAVEL LESS AND
EXPECT MORE...

34. Once In a Life Time...

35. A Tale of Two Giraffes
• Selling the same product side by side is a
real challenge

36. THE MARKET IS TOO
CROWDED AND TOO
LOUD TO BE MAKING
BLAND GENERIC
STATEMENTS

37. ESPECIALLY IN A MARKET
DRIVEN BY SEARCH AND
SOCIAL MEDIA

38. STRONG UNIQUE
MESSAGING

39. We have to tell an
interesting story...

43. The Web is Changing
Constantly...

45. Content Generation
• Over the past 6 years the web has changed
radically
• People have become able to create content
on the internet with no skills or technical
knowledge
• Users mainly consume content from other
users

46. What Does That Mean?

47. SLIDE
34

48. Our Users Are In
Control

51. You need to work with
them...

52. And they come
prepared...

54. Leading Source for Travel
Information

55. SOCIAL ON THE
ROAD
• 72.7% of US social network users accessed
social networks at least daily while they
were travelling.

56. VICARIOUS TRAVEL

57. Multiplying the
Travel Experience
• The vicarious travel experience effectively
means that each person is now travelling with
an average of 200 spectators
• These are not passive spectators
• They are engaging, commenting and
recommending constantly
• Travel suppliers now need to be a part of this
atmosphere of constant engagement

58. EVERYONE IS A
BLOGGER...

59. Everyone Advisor

62. THE SINGLE
STUPIDEST THING
YOU CAN DO IF YOU
WANT GOOD UGC

63. AND I CAN
GUARANTEE LOTS
OF YOU DO IT...

64. QUESTION...

65. DO YOU GIVE YOUR
GUESTS AN
ELECTRICITY AND
WATER BILL WHEN
THEY CHECK OUT?...

66. THAT WOULD BE
CRAZY...

67. THEN
WHY
DO YOU CHARGE
THEM TO USE THE
INTERNET?...

70. KEEPING IT SIMPLE

71. Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

72. OR....

74. It’s a Visual Medium:
Show Me Don’t Tell Me

79. Show me an experience
that inspires me...

82. The Media Rules have
changed...

84. MEDIA
IS NOW
YOU AND
ME-DIA

85. Individuals Become
Broadcasters &
Syndicators

86. Content Goes Viral
• Content is easy to produce and easy to share
• Once released into cyberspace, users share,
refer and pass on content to each other
• It spreads and it spreads fast...

87. ENTIRE CAMPAIGNS
ARE NOW RUN
VIRALLY

89. The Market is more
creative than the
Marketer...

90. Show Business is being
Shaken Up...

97. Popular Somebody....
• Original Video: 316 Million views
• 4th most liked Video
• Over 40 cover versions, tributes, parodies
and alternative versions
• Total views: Over 330 million

98. Anything can become
popular... and creative

99. Reporting a stolen
scooter...

101. NEK MINNIT
(Next Minute)

107. User Generated
Content:
Raw, Real, Reliable...

110. Africa goes Viral
• ‘The Battle at Kruger’ a tourists video shot in
South Africa has become the 12th most
popular video on YouTube
• It has been viewed over 66,276,000 times
and counting

111. THIS CONTENT IS
ENGAGING...
LITERALLY

112. SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL
MEDIA CONVERSION
REQUIRES
CONSTANT
ENGAGEMENT

122. Conversion
• There is so much competition in the
marketplace and so much demand from the
market for sales that CONVERSION of
interest to sale is essential
• As search and social becomes increasingly
monetized branding alone is not a good
investment
• To see return on your online investment
you need to convert

123. SOCIAL SELLS
• US online buyers who were led to their
purchase by a search engine or social media
site (November 2010)
• Search: 51%
• Search and social: 48%
• Social: 1%

124. Social Conversion
• Spending on Social Media Advertising has
doubled in the last year
• Ad spend on Facebook in 2011: $4 Billion up
1600% from 2010
• Video Advertising growing

125. Your Content direct to
the
Right Audience...

127. What do people love
to talk about?

129. Opinions
are important
• 20% of North Americans read reviews before
making a hotel booking during domestic
travel.
• 33% of North Americans read reviews before
making a hotel booking before overseas travel
to Europe.
• 50% of North Americans read reviews before
making a hotel booking before booking long
haul travel. source: NEW MEDIA TREND WATCH

130. Trip Advisor

132. Response time is
speeding up...

134. TRAVELLING MOBILE
• Three out of ten cell phones in use in the US are now
"smartphones" with internet connectivity.
• In 2010, nearly two in ten travelers (19%) have downloaded a
travel-related application (app) to their smartphone.
• Half have navigated a destination using the built in GPS
functionality or searched for the latest information on flight
schedules and delays.
• Three in ten have compared airfares or hotel rates or shared
information or photos about their travel experiences using
their smartphone.
• One in six has booked air travel or lodging or viewed a virtual
visitor guide that provides information on things to do and see
while visiting a destination.

135. THE FUTURE IS MOBILE AND
LOCATION BASED
• Tools, Apps and Sites that know where you
are are becoming very popular
• Find information and contacts around you
• Post, report and relate to your content
• More and more destinations are focussing
on Location Based Services

138. FUTURE FOCUS
• SLOMO:
• Social Media driving referrals
• Local Based Content & Services
• Mobile as a means of publishing and
sharing content

139. KEEP AWARE...
KEEP EVOLVING

140. LET’S GET
CREATIVE