Making Ripples

I have just watched an Eddie Izzard clip that inspired me. He usually just makes me laugh and feeds my madness. This is the joy of the digital world, you never know where you will end up.

I would love to make some ripples, starting with the smallest communities and going all the way up to South Africa Tourism.

FACT: The tourism environment is changing, with more people wanting authentic experiences, an opportunity to live like a local and to journey beyond the high gloss “Top 10 must see” holiday.

FACT: Word of mouth marketing is powerful and FREE.

FACT: The people of every city, town and village are potential clients for some form of tourism.

FACT: Too many people have not experienced much of what is offered on their doorstep.

FACT: Too many people are unaware of what is offered on their doorstep.

QUESTION 1:  Are we largely ignoring the local inhabitant in tourism marketing?

QUESTION 2 : Are costs prohibitive, should we have special prices for locals?

QUESTION 3: Is it viable to have one week, or day a year, off peak, where entry to attractions is free to locals?

I don’t know the answers to these questions. I believe they are worth asking  as just thinking about them is progress.

 

LETS DREAM….. 

Based on the ideas of “Join in UK” I would love to see a  such a campaign take off in South Africa in the tourism sector.

At a national level  a platform would be required to drive and market the campaign and to share information.

At the local level communities would need to talk, interact, market to their immediate area, organise open days and community events to raise awareness , and start getting creative and collaborating with local tourism offices.

At this local level the success would rely on the goodwill of the communities to engage, to volunteer and to support the various initiatives.

The benefits are never ending ripples.

Raising awareness, instilling pride, sparking creative thinking, teamwork, collaboration and turning locals into tourists, changing mindsets…

Take a look at this ” Join in UK” initiative   https://www.joininuk.org/  and see how you think it could be tweaked to  a little to fit the South African tourism model.

I would love your thoughts so we can expand on this idea.