Every year everybody who is anybody in the tourism industry boards a plane for Durban and talk tourism for three solid days. This year was no different and although the attendance figures to Africa’s largest travel show seemed to be slightly down the general agreement was that the quality has certainly not dropped.   From  7 to 9 May many Cape Whale Coast hospitality businesses met up in Durban and the mothers amongst them has to accept that if you are in tourism Indaba trumps Mothers Day.

Potting Shed, Southern Right Charters, SA Forest Adventures, White Shark Projects, Windsor Hotel, Grootbos,  Marine   Dynamics  all  had  stands  to  share  their  stories.  Newly established Urban Tours was recognised by SA Tourism, as a much needed community product and given an express stand that Leanne Dryburgh manned for her first visit to Indaba. Old-timer Indaba attendees Glynis van Rooyen, Clinton Lerm, Charmaine Beukes, Michael Lutzeyer, Wilfred Chivell,  Soli Madikane and Glenda Kitley made sure that Indaba felt like a local get-together. Around every corner was a familiar face.

Overstrand   Councillor  and  Chairperson  for Economic  Development  and  Finance  on  the  Mayoral Committee Dudley Coetzee attended his first Indaba and found the amount and diversity of tourism products on offer interesting and a useful benchmark for the Cape Whale Coast. It was quite obvious that all the marketing campaigns now include a social component with hash tags and twitter icons placed very visibly on marketing material.

Digital is no longer a trend in travel. With the typical traveller making 419 digital moments before they fly into the sunset we can comfortably say that travel is digital. Digital is not a secondary source to word of mouth; it is part of word of mouth  because  of  the online conversations strangers are having with one another in sharing images and facts.

Visitors  feed  off reviews made by people like themselves and  video plays  a  prominent  role  in the tourism buying decision. 

With  a preference for online travel information travellers are becoming allergic to paper and would rather opt for a business card with a web address. With 800 exhibitors engaging 1100 buyers  covering 500 international businesses. Indaba is a platform for African operations to connect with the rest of the world.

Indaba is the one show where business is done as much off the  exhibition  stand as at the stand. You need stamina to survive Indaba as engagement continues after hours with as much promise as during opening hours.  Durban opens its doors  and the economy thrives because of tourism and its contribution.  

Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom mentioned in his budget speech that government is looking to tourism for economic growth.  The  Cape  Whale  Coast  certainly  has the same expectations.

These  expectations  can  definitely be met because of the variety of activities offered and the short distance from an international airport. Glenda Kitley, Gansbaai Tourism Mana-ger, has attended thirteen Indabas and has seen the best. Kitley felt that the annual Indaba is still the place where it’s at for tourism and would not be discouraged from attending because of a slight drop in numbers.

With  the  added  information  sessions  and introduction meetings there is more value for attendees. The active engagement of SA Tourism helped to gain access to relevant people and be exposed to new travel trends. Frieda Lloyd, Cape Whale Coast Tourism, added “the Tech and Trade Talk sessions were short informative lecturers with something new to learn. I was pleasantly surprised to see the toolkit that SA Tourism has developed for businesses with welcome letters in Mandarin.

All  there  to  be  adjusted for any business’s use.”  With   opportunity to engage face to face with travel agents and tour operators long term relationships can be forged. In January, over one million tourists arrived in South Africa, 15% more than the previous year and the estimation is that tourism will contribute more than R380 billion to the economy this year. We know that tourism adds positively to the economy and we know that the Hermanus area has got everything it takes to gain from this industry. We have to apply the intelligence to promote our businesses and also help others to benefit.

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