During last week’s MKTE 2017 organized at KICC from 03-05 October 2017 in Nairobi KTB (Kenya Tourism Board) showcased its new innovative approach to digital marketing with a strong focus on creating a community within the destination for the sharing of content from the trade and their clients. Kenya Tourism Board is making a very significant shift focus on Digital. In the coming time-period, digital will be looked as a key driver of messaging for promoting Kenya as a destination.

Digital Strategy:

One of the key agendas discussed was employing head of digital to deliver the strategy. In other-words, KTB will engage a digital consultant to formulate the strategy. The purpose of the hiring is to create high profile digital presence for Kenya and create engagement that can be referred to trade as business. Increasingly use technology to create authentic experience to our markets.

Technology
To identify the potential high value visitors and connect them via engaging content via the right channels. Use tech to create platforms for genuine realtime human engagement. To use data to make informed decisions about marketing.

Data Driven Strategy
> Making decisions based on Hard Data
> Only measurable can be managed
> Adapting destination strategy based on traveller behavior

Looking to the future
> Global tourism is being driven by independent travellers
> Group and most tourism models are eroding
> Value or volume must be part of equation
> From tourist to travellers, attractions to experiences

Segmenting audiences
> Use social media to directly target potential visitors
> Target communities over countries

What do Google trends indicate? 
The statistics state that 82% of travellers are undecided on a destinations/brands. During the session Google’s industry head for travel in Kenya also shared that currently the search-engine giant accounts for 10 million searches for Kenya globally every year. While the keywords are a mix of multiple queries including political, state of safety as of now 50% of searches are related with T&T (Travel and Tourism). The number 1 search query is about what to do in Kenya.

TripAdvisor has been working with KTB for about 8-9 months on how to change perception of Kenya as a destination. The focus has to be pushing the number of people who’re looking at Africa. TripAdvisor has been discreetly stating that Kenya is a safe and secure destination which includes TripAdvisor microsite for Kenya.

Going forward, KTB expects to hire more people in the digital division including hiring a community manager.

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Damian Cook is the CEO of a company called E-Tourism Frontiers and has vast experience of working with Kenya Tourism board as well as over 30 different destinations in and across Africa, Middle-East and South East Asia. During his session at MKTE 2017 on Kenya Tourism in the digital market place, he talked about travel-trade industry in Kenya can leverage digital platforms.

Digital works effectively when it is used just not just by the government by the travel-trade on effectively maintaining relationships with their customers. Damian is advising KTB on a new digital strategy for promoting the destination.

Evolution of Digital in Travel

• Phase 1 – High street and Brochure driven shopping (by Suppliers and Travel agents)
• Phase 2 – The Rise of Online Bookings (OTAs and Airlines)
• Phase 3 – Direct Inbound (Search + Suppliers)
• Phase 4 – User Driven Business (Social Media + Customers)

Damian Cook, E-Tourism Frontiers

Consumer Cycle

Experience of travellers in-terms of UGC (user generated content) is now a critical part of the marketing process.

Travel is online

The core essence of online is Travel.

• 63% of all travel is now research, booked bought and sold online
• 50% of online travel sales involved more than one device
• 300 + reviews per minute posted on TripAdvisor

TravHQ Note: As a travel-trade industry professional, you need to identify and look at Google reviews for a hotel and destinations.

Global Market Challenges

• Tour Operator driven model is diminishing
• KPMG lists 49% of Pos as in decline and 24 major POs bankrupted in 2011-15 including Thomas Cook
• European Charter Market drops to 2%
• Online regarded as motivating factor

Key attributes of Millenial Travellers

• Are you ready for them?
• Avoid anything referring to ‘tourists’ and destinations regarding as ‘attractions’
• Are traveller seeking experiences and those words matter
• May not want to stay in hotels
• May never have children

Selfie culture is here to stay even though selfies kill more people than wild animals

Understanding selfie psychology

• Look where I am (Destination)
• Look who I am with (Demographics)
• Look what I am doing (Interest)

It’s a gradual shift from hiring marketing companies to whom you used to pay for the brochure photographs etc. Now hotels have got customers who are using their smartphones to create visual content for them and put them on social media. The more photogenic your food is, more likely people are to create photos.

Don’t tell them about your product … show them your product

TravHQ note: Damian’s workshop is in-line with the series of workshop conducted by TravHQ team for destinations across India. We’ve been strongly advocating the role of digital across state-tourism boards in India and across SEA destinations.

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Magical Kenya Tourism Expo 2017, the leading travel-trade fair in East Africa is schedule to begin tomorrow from October 3 2017. MKTE is one of the fastest growing tourism events in the region and is currently positioned as the leading travel trade fair in East Africa. This year some of the seminar sessions have an integrated focus on capturing the digital travel strategy as well as understanding the online travel patterns.

 Kenya Tourism in the Digital Marketplace, 3rd October 12:00pm – 1:00pm

This session will look at the key trends, innovations and digital tools that are reshaping the global travel market- and the challenges and opportunities they present for Africa and Kenya. Using international and local examples and case studies- this session will show the direction Kenya tourism must take to be a sustainable, future proofed destination. Join us the next day to see how KTB is addressing this with a bold new digital approach.

Presenter: Damian Cook, E Tourism Frontiers (Image Source BBC)

Damian Cook is the founder and Managing Director of E-Tourism Frontiers- a major global initiative to develop online tourism in emerging markets. He has lived and travelled all over Africa- and it was his experience of working in tourism, the media and marketing that led him to see that Africa’s failure to access the online sector presented a major threat to the sustainable future of tourism. After working as a consultant in both the public and private sector developing destination websites and online marketing campaigns he formed E-Tourism Africa, which worked across the continent, training and facilitating business for the sector. E-Tourism Africa has successfully trained hundreds of tourism professionals and has brought leading international experts and major travel firms and intermediaries to Africa to do business. E-Tourism Frontiers now takes the same approach in all emerging markets. Damian has made presentations to numerous international forums, including the World Information Summit in Tunis, the UN Experts Panel on E-Tourism, ITB in Berlin and the IFITT ENTER conference, as well as Presidential African inward investment presentations in China, Japan and Thailand.

Online Travel Bookings in Kenya, 3rd October 1:00pm – 1:30pm

World’s largest OTA, Expedia will be presenting a focus session which examines the current state of online bookings in Kenya. it will also look at strategies/advise on better selling online. The session will be presented by Ross Kata from Expedia.

Presenter: Ross Kata, Expedia (Image Source: Flickr)

Ross Kata has been working for Expedia Inc in Africa since 2003. Kata spent seven years in the hotel and tour operator industry in Europe and the Asia Pacific. His primary role on behalf of Expedia Inc is negotiating airline, hotel, destination experiences and affiliate deals. He has expertise in online retail, merchandising, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and mobile and social media. Kata is also a Board Member of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA), Chairman of African Travel Association (ATA) and Member of the Tourism Advisory Committee at UNISA.

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