South African Tourism's consumer insights show that personalised and authentic experiences are what tourists to our destination increasingly seek. They want to meet the real people of South Africa, spend time with us, eat the food we eat and be part of our culturally rich lifestyle.
"Welcome is about inspiring and educating South Africa's tourism role-players and everyday South Africans in ways to exceed tourist expectations of service delivery that we'll be able to deliver on our brand promises, improve our businesses, and grow our tourism industry," says South African Tourism chief executive officer, Thulani Nzima.
"Being welcoming, and helping with the little things is the basic component of service excellence. South Africa is already recognised as a warm, friendly destination. This is what people remember and what inspires them to return. Let's hone this gift, and spread it throughout the industry. It's asking yourself: 'What extra little thing can I do to make a visitor's stay more memorable?' It's a friendly smile, a helpful answer," Nzima says.
South African Tourism has launched a new Welcome Campaign website, http://welcome.southafrica.net, where every member of the tourism industry in South Africa can go to participate in the 'Welcome Challenge', a fun quiz designed to improve your knowledge of how to make guests from anywhere in the world (including from South Africa) feel special.
Visitors to the website can click on the knowledge centre, and find content that provides insight into the needs and desires of Indian and Chinese tourists; videos that give insights on wine pairing and general wine etiquette; and a video that helps you learn more about adventure tourists. All this and much more is available for download.
Also available on the website is the Welcome Toolkit, which gives tools to assist in welcoming guests. The toolkit includes Welcome letters and gift ideas, a Welcome video, a Welcome corporate identity guide and Welcome logo downloads. All these tools are available for free. South African Tourism urges the trade to download and use these resources to their advantage. "It's our way of working together with the South African travel industry to showcase this country's welcoming nature," Nzima says.
The Welcome website also offers numerous useful tips on how best to welcome visitors from all over the world. More than 9000 people have already visited http://welcome.southafrica.net, and some have shared their stories about the "little things" they do to make a guest feel like South Africa is a home away from home. South Africans are invited to share the "little thing" they do on the Welcome Wall, and to get measured on the "cool, warm, hot" Welcome Result gauge.
For more information on South African Tourism, go to www.southafrica.net.
