ZIMBABWE’s tourism sector began day one of the World Travel Marketing (WTM) seeking to tap into imaginative ideas to help the country stay ahead of the curve and create content that will see a return on investment.
The three-day WTM London is hosting 17 inspiring sessions with social media gurus, bloggers, digital influencers, content creators, marketers and entrepreneurs.
“Highlights on the first day of WTM London (November 4) included Using Original Content and Social Media to Seamlessly Sell Travel Online, with an in-depth look at UK start-up, Culture Trip, which recently launched an accommodation-booking service alongside its inspirational articles about travel and culture,” ZTA said in a statement yesterday.
ZTA Head Corporate Affairs Godfrey Koti who is part of the Zimbabwe delegation says the destination must proactively create content, own and tell it’s own stories in order to control the narrative.
“There is more than 500 million tweets posted each day and Facebook has a gigantic 2.4 billion regular users, the statistics surrounding social media are just incredible for us travel marketers.
“There are more than one billion Instagram users, and millions using YouTube, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn and new channels such as TikTok. The reach of these sites prove that this is unquestionably the direction in which travel marketing is heading,” he said.
“We have attended sessions on the power of social media and its capabilities in marketing a destination. We need to be in a position to collectively create good compelling content in order to manage our general perception as a destination. It is important to own our narrative and this can be effectively done by telling our story on our own,” he said.
WTM London’s Senior Director, Simon Press, said the fair was proud to be leading the way when it comes to embracing the role that content creators have in the development of the travel industry.
“The sessions, and other social media seminars being held at WTM, will inspire delegates with imaginative ideas to help them to stay ahead of the curve and create content that will see a return on investment,” Press said.
