Tourism Lekgotla explores digitisation in the sector
The North West Department of Tourism unpacked the impact of adopting digital methods to transform tourism in the province through its Trade and Investment Lekgotla.
The Lekgotla which took place over two days recently in Klerksdorp saw industry players explore the benefits of being competitive by embracing digital trends. The Lekgotla also provided an insight on the tourism landscape in the province as well as trade and investment opportunities.
The Acting MEC for Tourism Dr Mpho Motlhabane said the Trade and Investment Lekgotla expresses efforts made by Government, to deal with the digital divide, to create global economic integration and to ensure public private partnership with the aim of growing the economy and create jobs.
“One of the deliverables of this Lekgotla has to be the facilitation of a clear role in the promotion of trade environment and investment opportunities, we aim to achieve this by working to build an equitable and impartial multilateral trading system.
“Growth and investment is critical to meet the demands of the North West Province growing middle class, led by an increasingly skilled, educated and tech savvy young people,” MEC Motlhabane said.
MEC Motlhabane also put emphasis on the significance of realising the impact that technology has on the travel and tourism industry as a sector which continues to sustain a lot of jobs and performs better than other growth sectors.
“Today the world is talking about the 4th Industrial Revolution, we need to find out where we are in that space, policy makers and tourism enterprises today need to understand the implications of ICT developments and its importance.
“E- Tourism describes the entire range of applications of ICT in the tourism industry, where tour operators, travel agencies, hotels etc., can benefit- the advantages also support other functional activities which include marketing, sales, operations and many other channels,” added MEC Motlhabane.
Kaizer Dhliwayo, a Researcher at South African Tourism says, the world is moving towards digital migration, therefore tourists are more visible on the internet as a result online bookings continue to increase which is why product owners should have an online presence.
“As we measure tourist behaviour and activities we find that 34% of accommodation bookings happen online, you are able to get an idea of what kind of package to put together for an international tourist by looking at what they typically search for online.
“Tourists want new experiences all the time, we have to find ways to tell authentic stories about our destinations and give it an impact by doing it digitally so that we can attract tourists from all walks of life. The North West has moved from number 7 to 6th most visited province drawing 33 300 tourist this year and tapping into the digital space will attract even more” said Dhliwayo.
Adopting the World Tourism Organisation’s theme for 2018 “Tourism and the Digital Transformation” the Lekgotla sparked conversation in a form of expert panel discussions, question and answer sessions with all stakeholders as well as presentations by information technology companies which included Oracle, UBER, Microsoft and MTN who made meaningful inputs on redefining tourism through the digital economy.
Furthermore founder of Mahikeng Innovation Hub Joepac Ndaba said the Lekgotla should encourage stakeholders to drive an interactive tourism agenda in the pursuit of a digital economy.
“The industry needs to understand the language of millennials and businesses must find a strategy for that, many of the lodges are not following what millennials want but hotels are getting it right, so that is one of the ways in which the smaller lodges and BnBs can get business.
“Businesses need to move to the global trends like artificial intelligence, Air BnB, interactive websites, chatterbox, Wi-Fi is not a luxury anymore but a necessity so it’s important to see what is out there and move with the trends,” concluded Ndaba.
Enquiries:
Dineo Lolokwane
Cell: 072 542 8444
Tel: 018 388 2081
E-mail: dlolokwane@nwpg.gov.za
