NELSON MANDELA BAY TOURISM TRADE PROMOTIONS
The Economic Development, Tourism and Agriculture (EDTA) Tourism Marketing Department objectives are to attract and increase the number of visitors to Nelson Mandela Bay, Increase the length of stay of visitors by informing them of what the city has to offer, and to stimulate economic growth by increasing the income generated from visitors. In order to deliver on the objectives a tourism driven marketing campaign is planned to attract and inform potential visitors to Nelson Mandela Bay from outside the borders of the city and within. Citizens are key stakeholders and should be included in order to increase the reach of the campaign to extend to the VFR market and to create a positive tourism culture amongst locals.
The approach for EDTA’s international marketing fully aligns to support the South African Tourism 5-in-5 Strategy where the core markets for the Nelson Mandela Bay and Eastern Cape have been identified. The National Department of Tourism together with South African Tourism have revised the country’s Domestic Tourism strategy and is linked to the 5 in 5 strategy. As a city, we have to align to those National efforts to reach maximum impact. Intermediaries such as tour operators, wholesalers, travel agents and online retailers play a significant role in attracting international visitors to Nelson Mandela Bay. The travel trade can help open up new markets, attract more visitors to your destination and encourage them to spend more time exploring what you have to offer.
To reach the objectives outlined above the trade marketing activities will be executed through the following channels:
- Joint Marketing Agreements
- Country Representatives
- Trade and Roadshows
- Marketing Collateral
- Trade Education
- Cooperative Marketing Partnerships
- Media Plan
All stakeholders contribute to the success of the tourism economy through effective implementation of their roles and responsibilities. EDTA will continue to collaborate with identified stakeholders to create synergy which is essential to the success of the international activities, with information sharing being at the heart of this intervention.
Key stakeholders of EDTA’s International marketing initiatives :
- Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism Association
- South African Tourism
- South African Embassies
- Tour Operators & Travel Trade
- Private Sector Product Owners
- Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency
- South African National Parks
- Key Industry associations such as SATSA, SAACI and ICCA
- Other key Local Tourism Association partners
- Media
The EDTA Tourism Trade Promotions Activities aim to utilise Tourism Trade Platforms across multiple identified target markets globally as identified through strategic sessions with industry and national partners such as Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA) and South African Tourism (SAT).
The aim of these platforms include amongst others:
- Use the platforms to increase our brand awareness equity in the industry through identification of current and new marketing and online distribution channels
- Providing information about the destination
- Meet with marketing and publication companies
- Target Destination Management Companies that deal with Inbound Tour operators and encouraged the inclusion of NMB as part of the itineraries they promote and sell to the operators
- Provide trade partners with product training and product updates as well as facilitate product requests and questions
- Making new contacts with both national and international tourism trade and ensure the inclusion of NMB in their itineraries and create exposure for products
- Build on existing relationships with national and international tourism trade
- Build on our trade database and follow up on all requests.
- Use this opportunity to learn more about new trends in the tourism industry
- Host Trade via Trade familiarization Trips
EDTA has a number of initiatives that complement the educational and experiential aspects of the plan to drive and stimulate domestic tourism and citizen ambassadorship. Influencers, Media and Trade will be hosted in Nelson Mandela Bay to promote travel within South Africa especially Nelson Mandela Bay and Eastern Cape and to create a positive image of the City and encourage travel among all South Africans.
The objectives of hosting these initiatives include:
- To use the power and influence of influencers to extend the campaigns reach and to create additional awareness and appeal of the destination through the content that they generate from their destination experiences
- To create awareness of quality product offerings in Nelson Mandela Bay with the aim on increasing travel demand to the destination and so will also increase bookings (transport, accommodation and activities), spend, and length of stay ultimately boosting the economy of the city;
- To obtain and increase quality media coverage and brand awareness for the destination;
- To reach and encourage travel amongst new markets including the youth market.
EDTA Trade Portal Toolkit and E-learning Platform
The toolkit can be accessed here: Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism Toolkit
EDTA also have an e-learning module for trade to learn more regarding destination Nelson Mandela Bay. In this way we are able to reach, inform and educate all travel trade agents in a very effective and efficient way. One of the strong points of the system is that all large travel chains are connected through a white label set up. These companies have chosen for the web based e-learning solution and content exclusively to train their staff about destinations and products they sell. This means serious attention from agents to learn more about our products. This translates and generates valuable marketing information for Nelson Mandela Bay regarding who is interested and which chains of travel sales agents are seriously interested in our offers. Local tourism and hospitality staff are also encourage to complete the training in order to sell Nelson Mandela Bay Better.
The e-learning module can be accessed here: NMB E-Learning
CONTACT US:
For more information on the above and other support available, kindly contact our destination marketing team.
Mr. Doné Louw
Tel: 041 503 7566
E-mail: dlouw@mandelametro.gov.za