A Facebook group that was used to launch the social media campaign #tourisminmyblood has received global attention. Within the first 10 days, more than 10,400 travel industry professionals from 99 countries joined the group, where conversations around how to help each other in a post-COVID-19 landscape have led to more than 100 member posts per day.
“The Travel and Tourism industry is in survival mode and we need to stick together and share ideas on how to best deal with this global crisis.”
The forum is the brainchild of Greg Smith, Sales & Marketing Director of Johannesburg digital marketing agency Zebra360Online, and Richard de la Rey from Dark Giraffe Marketing. Smith says, “The Travel and Tourism industry is in survival mode and we need to stick together and share ideas on how to best deal with this global crisis. The #tourisminmyblood network focuses on sharing positive stories and marketing initiatives through creating a platform for industry colleagues to help and support one another. Information is exchanged about a wide range of topics, from member surveys and technology platform recommendations, to health and safety tips for hotels and lodges post-Corona. We can learn from one another’s experiences in how to cope and build strategies to survive the disastrous impact that the pandemic is having on the travel industry.”
The tourism industry has ground to a halt but is using lockdown to prepare for what comes next, and finding ways to promote travel products and stimulate sales. Many plans include boosting domestic travel in the short and medium term, as borders are likely to reopen gradually.
“It may be too early to say, and of course people are bound to have more frugal spending habits post-Covid-19, but there is potential for the rise in free independent travelers (FIT) business.”
The #tourisminmyblood platform invites agents and operators to share positive stories and ideas within the network, with the view to forging strong working relationships that will be mutually beneficial to all parties when travel can resume.
“It may be too early to say, and of course people are bound to have more frugal spending habits post-Covid-19, but there is potential for the rise in free independent travelers (FIT) business. With an influx of irresistible travel deals coming online, we could even hope for some ‘revenge spending’ on travel. Either way, the travel industry has to be ready,” Smith concluded.
