2010 brand advocacy set to beat Germany benchmark

Record net promoter score

In terms of destination branding, this is the highest brand advocacy score achieved by a FIFA World Cup host yet, beating the benchmark set by Germany in 2006 by almost eight percentage points. Termed the net promoter score (NPS) by Harvard Business School, this measurement of brand advocacy is based on a singular question, this being whether or not a visitor would recommend their destination back home to colleagues and friends.

As evidenced many times over, the word of mouth effect generated by a positive NPS is a key driver of international tourism growth, as Germany's 2006 NPS of 88% translated into year-on-year growth in inbound leisure tourism of 33% and international business tourism of 47% (the latter for the hosting city of Berlin).

Yappies key to SA's tourism growth

Remarkably, the survey revealed that 74% of foreign tourists consider themselves to be adventurous individuals, while 54% described themselves to be risk-taking individuals. This confirms previous indications that destination South Africa has become a major attraction for the emerging class of so-called Yappies, the ‘young adventurous passion-driven professionals', members of the Generation Y from developed countries, such as Europe and the US, who are in search of challenge and adventure, rather than beaches and sunshine.

As evidenced by the growing appeal of adventure-based TV series' such as The Amazing Race and Survivor, the growing class of Yappies is set to become the new trendsetter in adventure tourism.

Word of mouse drives 2010 bookings

Most respondents (53.3%) made use of the Internet to gather information for planning their trip to SA. This was further confirmed by Cape Town Tourism, which has experienced an unprecedented amount of traffic since the launch of its 2010 site, www.capetown.travel/2010.

In particular, consumer-driven blogs are becoming vital for prospective visitors to inform their decision about where to invest their travel dollars, euros or yens.

Value for money a concern

On the other hand, only 15% of respondents believed ‘value for money' to be an attractive aspect of SA. This brings home the recently much-discussed issue of local accommodation providers being tempted to overcharge 2010 visitors and potentially kill the golden goose that has been laying so many international tourism eggs in the past.

The most recent victim to hotel greed has been Zimbabwe's tourism industry, which lost a lucrative deal with MATCH for offering accommodation to 2010 visitors after a number of hoteliers decided to charge exorbitant rates as high as US$600 per person per night.

The rise of American interest

Surprisingly, the most prevalent nationality of foreign tourists attending the Confederations Cup was found to be American (33%), ahead of the Brazilians who made up 20% of respondents. This correlates with the latest ticket sales for 2010, with the greatest demand coming from the US - and already 93 000 sold to American citizens.

Following the US semi-final victory over Spain, “the response since [that] night's victory has been incredible,” said 2010 Local Organising Committee media officer Jermaine Craig. “There's phenomenal excitement from the United States.”

Add to that the recent indication from President Obama's office that the First Family might attend the opening match in 2010, and a US media frenzy is almost guaranteed for the months running up to the event.

SA fans world-class

John Duerden from Europe's leading football site www.goal.com, travelled across SA during the 14 days of the Confederations Cup and had this to say about experiencing the local fans in the stadia:

Most English Premier League teams would kill for such a frenzy of noise and passion - and it is not just down to the vuvuzela. The local fans, famous through South Africa, sang and danced for much of the match in such a fashion that it was impossible not to want to join in. If it is a choice between 30 000 colourful, crazy, chanting supporters and 40 000 souls with backsides firmly planted on plastic seats, then it is no choice at all.

All things being equal, the 2010 experience promises to be truly memorable and generate many brand lovers for destination SA; which is why - with just over 300 days remaining to kickoff - we should ask ourselves not so much what 2010 can do for you but rather what you can do for winning brand advocates beyond 2010.