Kampala Seminars
In May-June 2009 we held our East African Seminar Roadshow. This epic project saw us visiting 6 different tourism centres in 4 countries.- holding 2 day training seminars in each venue for tourism professionals and destination managers.
As with our Southern and East African conferences- the level of attendance and enthusiasm was remarkable. There is an increasing awareness that successful use of online marketing and distribution is critical for sustainability of the trade. We saw a good mix of both well-established tourism firms and new entrepreneurs keen to develop modern- forward thinking businesses that can thrive and survive.
Our training has proved popular as we address the fundamental issues facing tourism businesses- getting their inventory online and then selling and marketing it using technology- and show them how to do it in a cost effective way without bombarding them with jargon.
Our line up of trainers and speakers seemed to suit our audiences- Rob Stokes from Quirk eMarketing has an infectious enthusiasm for technology, while Nightsbridge’s practical realtime reservations systems are extremely appropriate for these markets, New Mind’s Destination Management System solutions demonstrate how developing destinations can utilize the web to get their entire stakehold online- and the local presenters from VISA, Kencall, Kenya Airways and Safaricom brought everything home.
In our Mombasa session- having Safaricom’s MPESA manager, together with the regional Country manager for VISA and a local bank interested in offering online banking services felt like a real victory towards achieving the business synergy needed to develop E-Business in the region.
Rwandan Students at the Kigali event
One of the most common responses from our delegates was surprise at how accessible, cost effective and relatively simple some of the solutions we demonstrated were. The myth that getting online requires major investment and intense technological know how still dies hard- and it has been great to be able to demonstrate the ease of online reservation systems, working with online travel agencies- and how a website with a simple Content management system can be easily and effectively run. The same was true for search engine optimization techniques, email campaign management and use of multimedia and social media tools.
But while we saw a lot of enthusiasm for change we also saw many common challenges. In all destinations we heard from stakeholders the challenges of finding web designers who can provide more than a basic static website for business applications and the lack of local e-marketing professionals or agencies offering new media services.
Part of this challenge lies in local budgets and the need for companies to consider their websites to be capital investments and to reallocate their marketing budgets into online- this will develop the market and see more quality service providers emerging.
As we travelled through this diverse region we also saw local differences and challenges and opportunities that were unique to each destination. In Uganda and Rwanda we saw a high level of enthusiasm and a real thirst for knowledge- as tourism is very much an emerging force in their markets and much of it is driven by a relatively young business sector. In both countries we also saw a high level of interest from their public sector – particularly in addressing issues of destination management (especially give their common issue- access to high demand tourism resources- Gorilla permits).
In the more mature markets of Kenya and Tanzania we saw the common mature challenges- longer standing tourism sectors are more set in their ways- especially in distribution models. The reliance on foreign based tour operators, and the ‘old school’ marketing methods of traveling to trade shows with stacks of brochures remains strong- and there is often surprising skepticism of online tourism in these markets.
This is where our sessions on global travel trends are vital- and it has been important to expose local stakeholders to the situation in their key source markets- the rapid growth of online, the decrease in demand for conventional media, the online shift of many of their key supplying Tour Operators and more.
And we have seen attitudes begin to change and success stories develop- one of the Ugandan attendees from our Nairobi conference was with us in Kampala- and with the changes he had put into effect after the last event he is now doing 40% of his business online.
One thing is clear- change is coming and coming fast- at all of our East African sessions there was one common thread- that the arrival of the undersea fibre optic cable in Kenya this month is going to revolutionize connectivity for the region- but who will be ready to take real advantage of this resource and revolutionize their business?
