Question NW49 to the Minister of Tourism

Reply:

a) How is the Global Advocacy Campaign tailor-made for each tourism market?

I have been informed by the Department that the Global Advocacy Campaign is being implemented in various countries, by localising messaging for the target audience in each market. In executing the campaign, the country hubs have partnered and worked through various stakeholders in market including trade partners, influencers and other strategic non-tourism-related brand-aligned collaborations. 

The strategy of the campaign is three-fold:

• Leveraging of strategic events and trade platforms where SA Tourism is participating in each market, by engaging key stakeholders about the destination.
• Addressing barrier issues i.e., safety and security and visa challenges, amongst others, through issuing of media releases, newsletters and stakeholder engagements.
• Destination profiling content is always on various SA Tourism platforms including digital.

b) What has been the impact of various (i) international and (ii) regional campaigns on boosting destination image.

(i) International and (ii) Regional

The global “Live Again” campaign was launched in March 2022 and ran until 31 July 2022. The campaign, activated in two phases, targeted 25 countries across key global digital media platforms as follows:

• 5 global platforms used in phase 1 from 5 March – 15 April 2022: National Geographic, BBC, Expedia, Connected TV, YouTube and Gameloft.
• 8 global platforms used in phase 2 from 16 April – 31July 2022: National Geographic, BBC, CNN Expedia, Connected TV, YouTube, Gameloft, Facebook and Twitter.

The campaign resulted in the following:

Reach & awareness	Engagement & interest	Interest & Intent	Conversion
Ad impressions 374 750 898 Video views 84 759 694	Ad engagements 38 207 076 Ad clicks 1 337 661 Website visits 238 553 Website pages viewed 271 794	Website engagements with content 88 388 Website articles viewed 27 973 Website videos viewed 1 450 Deals added to wish list 1 176 Accounts created 2 545	Clicks on “BOOK NOW” 3 100

The above table demonstrates the following:

• By delivering over 374 million impressions, the cost per thousand impressions (CPM) averaged at R173,27 and an average cost per video viewed (CPV) of R0,77, both of which are above the average global CPM and CPV but explained by the quality of the ad placements and global platforms.
• Quality of the platforms is further heighted by the average ad engagement rate at 10% vs a global average of between 1% and 5%. This indicates the ads are shown to a relevant audience base.
• Campaign performance volume is top-of-the-funnel heavy, attention should be given to the intent and conversion metrics as Return On Investment indicators
• The brand tracker process is currently underway, and we should expect to see an impact on the brand tracker results.

c) how has the SA Tourism tracked the impact of the recent killing of the German tourists on :

(i) forward bookings

• South African Tourism did not track the impact of this specific incident on forward bookings. SA Tourism has, however, received information on cancellations of foreign bookings, with no reason given for the said cancellation.
• The average bookings over a normal 3-year period is 64,496. The average cancellation over the same period is 2.48%

(ii) cancellations

• The total cancellation rate for various reasons, not specifically linked to this incident was 3.02%

(iii) travel restrictions to the Republic

• No travel restrictions experienced as a result of the incident.

d) what steps has she taken to engage the Ministers in the security cluster to curb crime against tourists

The mandate of the Security Cluster is to ensure the safety of all, including tourists.

However, the Department continues to engage relevant Departments and implements various initiatives aimed at ensuring that tourists are safe, through the National Tourism Safety Strategy and the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Department and the South African Police Service (SAPS).

e) what measures must the Republic put in place to avoid a repeat of the incidents like the recent murder of the German tourist around the Numbi Gate?

It is the mandate of the South African Police Service to deal with all crime.