The tourism game has changed
Tourism coach and speaker Shaun van Eck will deliver key talks during the next leg of the national South African Tourism roadshows, to educate stakeholders about creating a holistic and memorable tourism experience.
Van Eck’s talks will coincide with the launch of his new book, The Tourism Coach, which he describes as the first business book in the world written specifically for entrepreneurs in the tourism sector.
The roadshows will encompass 60 towns and cities, where tourism entrepreneurs can attend presentations at no cost. “I will show how the rules of the game have changed in that our brand is now in the hands of our customers, who share how their expectations have (or have not) been met through social media and referral sites such as TripAdvisor,”says Van Eck.
“In South Africa, our natural products have been strong enough to carry us in the past, but now the experience has become the product and we need to innovate the way we present our offerings.” Van Eck sincerely believes that South Africa is in danger of suffering a ‘Kodak crisis’, a comparison to the photography giant’s fall when it lost touch with its customers and ultimately filed for bankruptcy protection.
“We can clearly see the trends developing to more meaningful customer experiences, but most tourism products are not responding to this challenge. Our competitors, like Australia and Canada, are implementing major drives in this area and we could be left responding too late. I hope to give attendees some ideas on how to respond effectively,”he says.
He says South Africans need to get to know customers and build experiences that meet their needs, stimulate their emotions and create lifelong memories. “An experience needs to be crafted like a story that is authentic, hands-on and enriching. Viewpoints, tasty meals and light-weight talks are no longer good enough, and we need a serious team effort among our tourism role-players to prevent us running out of competitive advantage. We need to focus on ‘nowhere-else-on-Earth’ experiences and live these experiences with our visitors.”
The two major elements of his talks will focus on ‘Crafting Tourism Experiences’ and ‘Madiba’s Service Revolution’, which will link the outstanding attributes of Nelson Mandela to the latest theory on service excellence. “We need to create a tourism revolution in South Africa and I am very excited to be a part of that team!”
(Article courtesy of Stuart Dickinson, from his blog on www.southafrica.net.)
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Source: Knysna-Plett Herald