Whenever an opportunity to engage with core stakeholders of the tourism sector of our beautiful province presents itself, I make sure to participate. As an avid reader I came across a 1987 acronym by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, two thought leaders in the business world called ‘VUCA’. This is a term coined to describe organisations that are volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. We are currently in VUCA times where constant and ongoing change is the new normal.
The tourism sector like many industries has been badly hit by the COVID19 pandemic as we all know and have felt throughout our various businesses. Travel restrictions, event cancellations, closure of businesses and attractions have had an impact that will be felt long after this period. As a job creating outlet with a positive economic impact for the province, ECPTA the entity I work for, provincial government in collaboration with the private sector have to continue working together to find ways to assist in containing the viral outbreak so as to save lives while lifting our industry and sustaining livelihoods.
When COVID-19 hit, everything came to a standstill, as a country we went on lockdown, started at level 5 went down the levels and recently level 1 was announced, as a people and business we started paddling to recover and rebuild. With so much unknown, developing an innovative strategy to shape our response, and performance for the future became critical. Pragmatic decisions and the facilitation of practical actions for an uncertain future were necessary.
This was evident to us at ECPTA, when the pandemic hit, we were in the process of approving our annual plans, by this time, it had become evident that we needed to change our approach by downscaling physical operations and upscaling digital offerings. This meant we had to put together a Recovery Plan based on analysis of pre-empted future challenges of the sector to replace the original plans. These included initiatives centred around:
• Saving the sector/jobs through accessing Tourism Relief Fund meant to assist SMMEs, benefiting from the national tourism relief and the Freelance tourist guide Relief Fund for compliant tourist guides qualifying. We also shared information on measures placed under the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF);
• Assisting businesses with training on health protocols as championed by TBCSA to ensure business continuity as travel restrictions were slowly getting relaxed, we did not want tourism businesses closing for not following set protocols;
• As an organisation we made a full swing to Smart Marketing, we started hosting webinars with trade to secure future dealings for the province;
• We did training for trade locally and internationally, we entered into partnerships with organisations like Inkanyezi for hosting of virtual exhibitions for establishments to showcase their offerings – we basically paid and secured space for about 52 product owners to showcase what they have to offer and to make sure that EC remains top of mind to tourists and potential visitors;
• We partnered with SATSA creating a platform for product owners in the Karoo Region – (this project will continue to other regions) to present their offerings to SATSA members for packaging;
• We ran several marketing campaigns through videos and images that we posted on our social media platforms that provided tourism support and showcased authentic EC experiences;
• We partnered with Radio stations and secured TV coverage targeting EXPRESSO since they are a lifestyle programme and CNBC Africa;
• when we got to level 2, we installed billboards in the three major cities i.e. Joburg, Durban and Cape Town; and
• Amongst other things, we are in the process of developing an APP for tracking and tracing tourists’ movements in the province and use their reviews and feedback as they travel to improve service and tourism experience.
Our thinking was simply to say if people can’t come to Eastern Cape, we’ll take Eastern Cape to them using all that I have mentioned and more, we were aware that people were stuck at home and spending their time on TV, radio and cell phones and therefore we were going to present Eastern Cape to them in the comfort of their homes including messaging that indicates our readiness to welcome guests by indicating that the province’s safety protocols as championed by the sector led by TBCSA gained international recognition from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) which was a solid indication of a sector eager and willing to adjust to issues as and when they arise.
The above approaches are the future, and we hope to collaborate with you moving forward for more smart marketing initiatives that will see our sector top of mind for domestic and international travellers. Experts indicate that by 2030 there will be 1.8 billion worldwide tourists’ which is 400 million more than last year and with our remarkable offering in the country and province we won’t miss out.
ECPTA looks forward to working with you to embrace rising technological trends that will enhance visitor experience and to keep our offering top of mind through:
• Unlocking innovative ways of economically sustaining the tourism sector;
• Considering Generation C (new tourist) – the health-wise and safety conscious tourist;
• Planning for the tech savvy tourist that goes online, travels with Uber, books accommodation and reviews experiences online, etc;
• Focusing on affordability through micro trips, by stimulating short trips more often;
• Promoting domestic tourism of wide open spaces, outdoor activities, and local is lekker programmes; and
• Applying digitisation as a key pillar of our integrated marketing strategy more often, such as virtual tours, augmented reality, etc.
Current times have also taught me the importance of the power of collaborations and partnerships, leaning on networks is gold. In today’s age of intellectual abundance of webinars and podcasts, livestreams and videos, yesterday’s minds or today’s innovators are only a click away. We should grab this by both hands and continue to keep in touch – learning from one another and taking this province forward.
