Opening Session by Damian Cook of E-Tourism Frontiers at the Nairobi E-Tourism East Africa Conference 2014

1. #ETEA14

2. WE WILL BE
STARTING IN A FEW
MINUTES

3. #ETEA14

5. #ETEA14

6. #ETEA14

7. DAMIAN COOK
@damiancook

9. BY 2016 HALF OF ALL
DOLLARS SPENT IN RETAIL
IN THE USA WILL HAVE BEEN
INFLUENCED ONLINE...

10. THE FUTURE IS
ONLINE
• 60% of all travel is now researched, booked
bought and sold online
• 96% of travellers start their research on the
internet
• Travel sales are expected to double this
year, exceeding $390 Billion

11. GLOBAL MARKET
CHALLENGES
• Tour Operator driven model is diminishing
• KPMG lists 49% of TOs as in decline and 24
major TOs bankrupted in 2011-13 including
Thomas Cook
• Online regarded as motivating factor
• Lack of customized and dynamic travel
bookings

12. WE NEED TO FACE FACTS

15. DOUGLAS ADAMS
• Anything that is in the world when you
are born is normal and ordinary and just
a natural part of how the world works...

16. DOUGLAS ADAMS
• Anything invented between when you are
15 and 35 is new and exciting and
revolutionary and you can possibly get a
career doing it...

17. DOUGLAS ADAMS
• Anything invented after you are 35 is
against the natural order of things and
probably awful...

18. Evolution of Travel...

19. Evolution
• Phase One: High Street and Brochure driven shopping
(driven by Suppliers and Travel Agents)
• Phase Two: The Rise of Online Bookings
(driven by Online Travel Agents and Airlines)
• Phase Three: Direct Inbound
(driven by Search and Suppliers)
• Phase Four: User Driven and Shared Business
(driven by Social Media and Customers)

20. WE ARE PLAYING
CATCH UP
WITH THE MARKET

21. IT’S NOT JUST THE
PLATFORM... IT’S THE
PRODUCT

22. ALL THE SPIN BUZZ
AND SOCIAL MEDIA
WON’T SAVE YOU IF
YOUR PRODUCT
DOESN’T WORK...

23. 1986 IN KENYA...

28. What Year Was that...?

29. 1986 IN KENYA...

31. Old School Tourism....

33. WE WORK IN A USER
CONTROLLED MARKET...

35. KNOW YOUR
MARKET TO GROW
YOUR MARKET

36. THE FUTURE OF
GROWTH WILL BE
ABOUT YIELD AND
NOT ARRIVALS

40. THE FUTURE TRAVELLER
WILL TRAVEL LESS AND
EXPECT MORE...

41. HIGH VALUE
EXPERIENCES

42. THE VALUE OF OPINION
Study showed that hoteliers can increase their rates by
11% per increased rating point with no impact on sales

43. WHY CAN’T WE SELL
EVERYTHING TO
EVERYBODY?

44. (A)
(B)
(C)

45. (D) NONE OF
THE ABOVE.....

47. THE MARKET IS TOO
CROWDED AND TOO
LOUD TO BE MAKING
BLAND GENERIC
STATEMENTS

48. ESPECIALLY IN A MARKET
DRIVEN BY SEARCH AND
SOCIAL MEDIA

49. Leading Source for Travel
Information

50. THE FUTURE IS
SOCIAL
• 40% on average of all time online is spent
social networking
• Web Use is in Decline by up to 70%
• Facebook is one of the largest populations
on earth with over 1.3 Billion people
• Social media is more popular and powerful
than TV and print media combined

51. TOTAL CONVERGENCE IS
FINALLY ARRIVING...

52. The Red Wedding Becomes an
Internet Experience

53. INFORMATION
OVERLOAD

55. STRONG UNIQUE
MESSAGING

56. NOTHING SELLS LIKE
EXPERIENCE

57. BRAGGING

58. MY STICK IS BIGGER
THAN YOURS

60. SHARED EXPERIENCE
• Travel is the most popular shared
experience on social media
• 72% of Americans update social media at
least twice a day while travelling
• Majority of Travel content now posted
while travelling

61. VICARIOUS TRAVEL

67. Multiplying the
Travel Experience
• The vicarious travel experience effectively
means that each person is now travelling with
an average of 250 spectators
• These are not passive spectators
• They are engaging, commenting and
recommending constantly
• Travel suppliers now need to be a part of this
atmosphere of constant engagement

68. NOTHING BEATS A
DIRECT REFERRAL...

71. HERE’S A GREAT
OPPORTUNITY....
LET’S KILL IT

75. KEEPING IT SIMPLE

76. SENDING A
MESSAGE...

77. OK NOT THAT...

78. Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

79. OR....

82. VISUALS TRAVEL FAR
AND FAST

87. DON’T TELL THEM
ABOUT YOUR
PRODUCT... SHOW
THEM YOUR
PRODUCT

89. THE SECRET TO
REALLY GREAT
MARKETING!

91. Video is hard to
ignore...

96. Show me an experience
that inspires me...

97. Travel specific searches on
YouTube have doubled in the
past year...

100. It’s all about
Co-Creation...

102. The Market is more
creative than the
Marketer...

103. Anything can become
popular... and creative

104. News Reporting...

108. Creation is Creative...
Like it or Not

115. GOOD
CO-CREATION
NEEDS CURATION

116. Nothing Inspires Like
Genuine Travel
Experiences...

119. The vital ingredient...

122. MOBILE STATS
• Phone users now touch their phones an
average of 110 times per day
• Email opens on smartphones have
increased 80% over the last six months
• 73% of smartphone owners access social
networks through apps at least once per
day
• Mobile commerce is projected to ten-fold
to 2016 ($31 billion)

123. THE FUTURE IS MOBILE AND
LOCATION BASED
• Tools, Apps and Sites that know where you
are are becoming very popular
• Find information and contacts around you
• Post, report and relate to your content
• More and more destinations are focussing
on Location Based Services

125. The Value of a Checkin

129. SMOOTH AND
SILENT

130. THE INTERNET OF
THINGS

131. SILENCE CAN BE
GOLDEN...

134. ENGAGEMENT IS
MORE ESSENTIAL
THAN EVER....

136. WHEN IT ALL COMES
TOGETHER...

138. Wearable Technology....

141. Google Glass

143. Too much?

145. LOOK AROUND

146. THOSE BUCKETS

153. THANK YOU
damian@e-tourismfrontiers.com
www.e-tourismfrontiers.com