An Introduction to Indaba & South African Tourism Strategies

Back in 2004, when officially opening Indaba for that year, the Minister of Environmental Affairs & Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk spoke about how tourism plays a role in the upliftment of communities in South Africa.

“The greatest value of tourism lies well beyond concepts such as revenue, turnover, and occupancy rates; the greatest value of tourism lies in its power to bring people together and to uplift communities,” said the Minister.

This core belief has helped make the annual Indaba travel and trade exhibition, with its diversity of products, one of the best travel and trade exhibitions in the world.  So much so, that it is coming to be regarded as a key event on both the domestic and global travel trade calendars, alongside WTM in London and ITB in Berlin.

Indaba is therefore a key component of South African Tourism’s tactical marketing approach to develop South Africa as a leading tourist destination, both domestically and internationally.  Indaba has been one of the primary tools by which tourism has eclipsed gold as a foreign exchange earner for South Africa.

Indaba has also been the platform for several unveilings and launches over the years, including two major launches by South African Tourism, the official international marketing agency for the Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism-

It’s Possible

South African Tourism launched its new marketing brand in 2004 – ‘It’s Possible’.

The brand represents the essence and values of South Africa as a preferred tourist destination, positioning the country as being the ultimate ‘explorer destination’, new and different in its diverse offerings for those keen to enjoy new perspectives and discoveries, and grow as people.

Strategically focused on promoting an ‘It Is Possible’ mentality, the idea is to ultimately communicate that in South Africa, nothing is impossible and everything is possible.

Tactically, it relies on real human contact, real answers and the joy of real sensation.  The brand embraces the positive, optimistic nature of South Africa, the desire to please and the belief that anything can be done. It relates specifically to the South African brand of hospitality, which has a genuine heart and is warm, welcoming, generous and inclusive.

Brand South Africa is being promoted to the ‘traveller’ as opposed to the ‘tourist’, ie to people who are enthusiastic about having a truly authentic experience, who seek to expand their world through immersing themselves in a destination.

Businessunusual

South African Tourism launched its new Business Tourism Strategy in 2005 – BUSINESSUNUSUAL.

BUSINESSUNUSUAL is used to describe the new approach being employed to promote internationally the compelling case for business tourism in South Africa.

The BUSINESSUNUSUAL campaign promotes South Africa as a beautiful and fascinating destination, totally unique, where business and incentive trips take people on personal voyages of discovery and transformation, allowing them to gain completely new perspectives on doing business.

This is all done within a totally ‘First World’ infrastructure, ie all mod cons!! Safety Standards, Quality (ISO standards), world class facilities, accommodation, service and leisure activities are all core to the success of the campaign.

The rich heritage of African traditions is directly related to business methodologies worldwide and the amazing political transition to democracy is used to provide invaluable lessons in creative solutions and innovative thinking.

Other Initiatives

Other initiatives introduced at Indaba include;

• The Welcome Awards (raising the bar in service delivery & visitor experience)

• The South African Tourism specialist destination education programme, Fundi (a Zulu word that means specialist or expert)

• The Sho’t left Low Season campaign (the biggest-ever Domestic Marketing Campaign for South Africa)

• Industry Seminars

• Hosted Buyers Networking Events

• The Global Media Face-off

South African Tourism Targets

* Key targets for South Africa’s tourism industry include;

* Growing arrivals to South Africa to 10 million a year by 2010;

* Creating 400 000 new jobs in the industry by 2014 and;

* Raising the industry’s contribution to GDP from 8 to 12 percent by 2014

As part of the strategy to reach these targets, earlier this year, for the first time, Indaba showcased its offerings on the main South African pavilion at the Internationale Tourismus-Börse (ITB) 2007.  Having a presence on a global platform such as the ITB drew a great deal of interest and attention.

ITB give Indaba the opportunity to present INDABA – within the right context – to new customer contacts and some of the highest-ranking decision makers and influencers in the travel trade from across the globe.

So the scene is set for the best Indaba yet, in 2007

Report by The Mole