For the first time ever, this years E-Tourism Africa Summit will be held in two cities- both Cape Town and Johannesburg. This is the 7th Annual event, and in response to massive public demand this two-day world-class conference will now be open to even more travel professionals across the country. The conference, which has become a “Must Go To” event on the South African tourism sectors calendar, will be taking place on the 4th and 5th of September at the Cape Town International Convention Centre and for the first time – there will be a twin summit being held in Johannesburg at the Turbine Hall on the 8th and 9th of September 2014.
Both events will once again be bringing together some of the world’s leading online tourism and travel experts including Facebook, Trip Advisor, Expedia, Twitter, Google and a fresh new set of local and international innovative speakers and solutions. South African Tourism is the title sponsor of the summit in Cape Town and Johannesburg and Gauteng Tourism Authority is supporting the summit in Johannesburg. Details and online registration can be found here.
Mr. Damian Cook, the CEO of E-Tourism Frontiers, emphasized the importance of online tourism. “With over 59% of travel now being researched, booked and bought online, attributing to over $400 billion in travel sales, ensuring that the African
tourism sector is partaking and benefiting from this fast growing space is essential for the sector’s growth and survival.” Cook continued by saying “as a local example of the effect and benefit of online tourism, a Neilson report shows that in 2012 over 200,000 travellers went online to book their trips to South Africa, resulting in more than R790 million for the country’s economy.”
Mobile will also be a key feature of this year’s summit. The E-Tourism Frontier’s CEO said that the statistics for travel bookings made on smart phones and tablets was increasing each year. “According to a recent PhoCusWright study, 7% of total hotel bookings in 2013 were made via tablet and mobile phones, a figure 12 times larger than that of 2010, this number is expected to jump to 20% by end of 2014. Expedia.com also reports that one in five of its consumers books travel on via mobile (apps or mobile website), while a majority of its customers use mobile devices to research elements of their booking,” said Cook.
“The Summit will show case the latest tools and trends on how to best leverage social media for your travel and tourism business factoring in the vast growth of smartphone usage in the travel space. This year’s Summit will also focus on offering practical training and solutions to grow and improve your day to day business.” Mr. Cook explains.
Ms. Jan Hutton, Chief Marketing Officer at South African Tourism, expressed her excitement for the upcoming E-Tourism Africa Summit. “Following the success of previous E-Tourism Africa Summits, we are looking forward to once again partnering with E-Tourism Frontiers for what will surely be another bigger and better event through which the tourism sector is able re-connect and learn about the latest online tourism and travel developments and technologies. The role of online is imperative for the growth and success of our tourism sector. The Summit will be a great chance to showcase local solutions, partnerships and opportunities from the South African tech trade and from South African Tourism that the travel trade can access. I am also delighted that this year we will have two events both in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
The E-Tourism Africa Summit (Cape Town) will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on the 4th and 5th of September 2014. And the E-Tourism Africa Summit (Johannesburg) will be held at the Turbine Hall on the 8th and 9th of September 2014.
Registration for the E-Tourism Africa Summit – Cape Town and Johannesburg is open now, with a special early bird rate for attendees signing up before July 31st. More info and online registration for both events can be found here.
