The best is yet to come for the tourism industry – Didi Moyle

It had been an extremely productive year for the travel and tourism industry in South Africa, with numerous important milestones having been reached and destination arrivals holding up well in the face of the global economic crisis.

This was the message to the travel and tourism industry yesterday evening at a trade and stakeholder cocktail gathering hosted by South African Tourism at its head office building in Sandton, Johannesburg.

And the marketing year was far from over. The industry was preparing for the World Cup final draw in Cape Town in December and would be in full attendance at the global travel trade show, World Travel Market, in London next month.

Didi Moyle, Chief Operating Officer and acting Chief Executive Officer at South African Tourism congratulated the industry on an exceptionally successful INDABA (in May) and Meetings Africa (in February); and on its world-class hosting of tens of thousands of visitors who had come to South Africa to attend the IPL cricket championship, the British Lions tour, the Confederations Cup and ICC Champions Trophy.

Chief Marketing Officer, Roshene Singh, said South African Tourism’s global marketing campaign continued to roll out and was working well to grow positive awareness of destination South Africa.

The campaign is flighted on the major global television channels and is supported by e-marketing tactics, channel-produced destination vignettes, competition elements and public relations. It reaches a billion people all over the world and has recently been boosted by the addition of South African Tourism’s 2010 tactical campaign that positions the destination as warm, friendly and exciting with the express purpose of leveraging the 2010 event to maximise arrivals and support for the industry.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter had given South Africa 75 percent for its management of the Confederations Cup, she said. He commended our hospitality and public support of the event. While some issues still need to be ironed out, Moyle had no doubt that the industry was fully equipped, ready and excited for next year’s big World Cup event.

The destination marketing organisation had also, this year, entered into new partnerships with the Peermont Group, with Computicket and with Flight Centre to make travel even more accessible and affordable to the domestic market.

South African Tourism also continued to enjoy the support of First National Bank for its Welcome Awards and the support of South African Breweries and the Tourism Enterprise Programme for its Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Awards (ETEYA).

South African Tourism’s Brand Messaging Book for Tourism had been extremely well received and was proving to be a useful tool for all South Africans who want to communicate good, strong, affirming messages about our destination. The publication had won a Loerie for creative excellence last month.

Visitor arrivals to South Africa, Moyle said, continued to grow in the face of the global economic crisis. However, growth had slowed and had declined from the markets abroad.

“Let’s be realistic and not lose heart,” she said. “Our drop in arrivals is in line with what the international industry is currently experiencing. It is imperative during tough times to make the most of destination marketing opportunities to entrench South Africa’s prominence as a travel destination. It’s also imperative to market robustly to the domestic and short haul markets in order to contribute to a sustainable tourism industry.”