By Masembe Tambwe
Ras Mbisi Lodge relies
completely on social media for its marketing and thanks to an active and
innovative Twitter profile has been featured globally in numerous
travel and lifestyle magazines.
TOURISM, as one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic sectors, has
tremendous potential to boost inclusive economic growth across the
continent and reduce poverty, which are two of the African Development
Bank's (AfDB) overarching objectives.
The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) projects Africa's
international tourist arrivals will rise to 134 million in 2030 - that
is an increase of 106 per cent from the 2013 level of 65 million
arrivals.
One reason for this rise is an influx of new visitors from emerging
economies in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, all seeking to experience
the cultural heritage, extraordinary wildlife, and dramatic landscapes
unique to the region.
In 2013 African economies grew at approximately 4 per cent on
average, compared to 3 per cent for the world economy, with broad
variations across different regions and income groupings.
Growth in sub-Saharan Africa was 5 per cent in 2013 and is projected
to rise to around 5.8 per cent in 2014. Excluding South Africa, the GDP
growth figures for SSA are estimated at 6.1 per cent for 2013 and 6.8
per cent for 2014. West and East Africa recorded the fastest expansion
at over 6 per cent.
Low-income countries also recorded growth of above 6 per cent, while
the upper-middle-income countries in North and Southern Africa grew more
moderately at 3 per cent.
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO),
2013 was another record year for the number of tourists travelling
internationally.
International tourist arrivals exceeded UNWTO expectations and
sustained a worldwide growth of 5 per cent, reaching 1,087 million,
compared to 1,035 million in 2012. Africa kept pace with aggregated
global trends and saw 5 per cent more tourist arrivals in 2013 compared
to 2012. The number of international visitors to Africa in 2013 was 65.1
million.
The most popular African destinations for international travelers in
2013 were the North African countries of Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia
while South Africa and Zimbabwe were the leading destinations in
Sub-Saharan Africa. There are many contributing factors as to why
tourism is booming in Africa.
Technology is surely one of them. For most travelers, the use of
mobile has opened a world of opportunities to explore and understand the
places they are visiting.
In a report that was published on the BBC website, a small South
African start-up called VoiceMap is trying to bring a local feel to
walking tours with the use of smartphones and GPS technology.
Founder Iain Manley travelled around the world for many years before
returning to South Africa and getting involved in GPS-triggered
commentary on cruises and open-top bus tours.
He soon found that there was something lacking in the big box
product. "When we were doing the commentary for Cape Town's open-top bus
tour the single voice idea didn't work at all because Cape Town has so
many different communities and the history of the city is so contested.
The same is true of cities all over," he says.
This gave him the idea of creating a platform to enable people to
record their own personalised GPS-based commentaries. Anyone can go to
the VoiceMap website and use the publishing tools to create some sort of
walk and put their voice over it.
The company also has an iPhone app and is working towards launching
an Android version soon. For the case of Tanzania, Jovago, an online
hotel booking platform recently announced its new partnership with Tigo
Tanzania where Tigopesa customers will now be able to pay for their
accommodation booked on the platform with their Tigopesa account.
This partnership comes at a time when integration of mpayments on
online booking websites is seen as a crucial aspect in bolstering in the
etourism industry.
"Africa is definitely moving on to the digital world, as part of this
move we want to take in consideration the local market demands and
habits, thus structure our strategies in response to the needs," said
the Jovago Managing Director, Ms Estelle Verdier.
This is the second integration of a mobile payment service provider
on the booking platform and the partnership allows guests more online
convenience and speed in the booking process.
Ms Verdier said the partnership gives the customer yet another option
for efficiency on top of the available card payments and pay-on-arrival
model.
Commenting on the integration of Tigo Pesa with Jovago, Tigo Head of
Mobile Financial Services Ruan Swanepoel said: "We are delighted to join
hands with Jovago to give the customers of our two companies the
convenience of paying for their hotel accommodation from the convenience
of their mobile phones.
This partnership is in line with our strategy to promote digital
lifestyle among our customers." Ms Verdier also explained that, in
addition to the convenient payment methods Jovago currently offers the
largest inventory of hotels in Africa and negotiates hotel rates on
behalf of the customer to ensure customers find their ideal
accommodation at the Best Price.
It's important to note that during the last Quarter of 2014, Tanzania
registered a 2.6 per cent growth in mobile penetration, a notable rise
from the previously recorded growth of 2.0 per cent.
Tanzania now has a total of around 28 million mobile phone
subscribers, representing a mobile penetration of 63 percent. According
to a World Tourism Report, East Africa is the most successful and
prominent location for mobile payments, with Kenya taking the lead at 80
per cent- of its adult population adopting mobile payment. She
underlined that currently over 30 per cent of visits to jovago.com are
channeled via a mobile device.
In such context mobile payment integration is a key driver in the
growth of this industry. This is not the first time both companies have
been involved in a common project.
Jovago.com and Tigo Pesa are both supporters of UNICEF's Passport to
Life an initiative that seeks to have every African child obtain
official birth registration.
When booking on Jovago customers are given the opportunity to support
birth registration (5$ per booking donated to UNICEF) at no extra cost.
Ras Mbisi Lodge relies completely on social media for its marketing
and thanks to an active and innovative Twitter profile has been featured
globally in numerous travel and lifestyle magazines. Dire conditions
for Malawi's flood survivors who lost everything
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