Technology & the Digital Journey

By Velma Corcoran Executive Marketing Manager Cape Town Tourism

Social Media has forever changed the way users share their travel journey

New technologies and trends mean it’s hard to keep up with all the platforms available

Impossible to keep up…

China’s online community has grown to 564 million consumers in 2013

The rise of social media users

Technology is not a substitute for a good story

Travelers are looking for ways to spend minimal time searching online

Lets not forget the basics

Holland, The Original Cool Campaign

BlogVille - Emilia Romagna, Italy

Cape Town Tourism – A Digital Snapshot

Some of our Digital success stories…

8300 players

14,800 likes

133,696,493 impressions

SMITTY AWARD

GOLD CANNES

of domesticpassengers in May on Mango airlines

40%increase

20:1 ROI

37,053,224 impressions

reaching 1,500,000+

peopleWTM White Paper

304,136,992 total REACH across 6 continents

Travel Blogging Today: It’s Complicated

http://www.crttbuzzbin.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Minnesota-Blogger-Conference-3.jpg

What travellers want from travel blogs

• Most travellers travel infrequently. Half travel less than 2 weeks a year

• “Search” and “Friends & Family” are the most used & credible sources of travel information and content

• Only 40% of travellers have ever read a travel blog

• Travellers who read blogs do so to get unbiased opinions based on real life traveller experiences.• To hear opinions of others about places they have visited (58%)• To get unbiased and honest reviews and opinions (48%)• To read about the real life experiences of travellers (47%)

• Travel blogs have a significant impact on travel decisions, especially in reinforcing and confirming travel plans.

Source: Gary Bembridge 2013; http://www.tipsfortravellers.com/TBU

Understanding the role travel blogs play

DREAM

PLAN

BOOKVISIT

SHARE

What does the future hold?

We want to create the right environment for Bloggers to tell their own stories