Why was #DigiSym2017 Trending at Indaba 2017?

Gauteng Tourism Authority, in collaboration with Travel Massive Durban, played host to the inaugural Digital Symposium 2017 on Monday 15 May 2017.

Guests were welcomed to this pre-INDABA event at Moyo uShaka by Barba Gaoganediwe, Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA) head of destination promotions and marketing, who set the tone for an informative and interactive event.

But the interaction started during registration at the Moyo beach bar, where on arrival, guests were welcomed with a GTA smile and courtesy drink. It was a ‘come in from the rain’ kind of day, and soon the expansive Moyo restaurant area, which had been transformed into a vibey theater style venue, was filling up. All 130 plus guests received gift bags courtesy of partners GTA, Google and Hotel.com and were soon ready and waiting, with their digital devices poised to record, tweet and post #DigiSym2017.

Presentations from tech giants Google, Expedia and Hotels.com had us learning about ‘micro-moments’, leveraging partnerships and branding – did you know that Hotels.com has a co-branded plane? And that nearly 1 in 3 Expedia users book a hotel in another continent from which they shop? On the local front, Tara Turkington, Flow Communications CEO, had us exploring the digital solar system thereby building digital influence to market our products; Dionne Collett, director of Take Note Reputation Management, stressed the importance of knowing the message our audience wants to hear and the importance of working across multiple platforms. The team from Pointers SA, a team of young entrepreneurs, spoke about how they help to showcase tourism attractions in niche areas using social media, and featured the Thembisa Street Food Market in a video clip. Jennifer Sanasie from Touch HD digital radio, who had a live broadcast from the event, spoke of how they aim to build communities and start conversations about topical issues.

An interactive Q&A session with all the speakers concluded what was a very successful event. By the end of the afternoon #DigiSym2017 was trending top in South Africa… better than the daily soapies and even #Bieber!  This was followed by entertainment provided by the Moyo dance crew, delicious canapes accompanied by a variety of drinks and lots of networking.

Thank you to GTA for entrusting Travel Massive Durban (with huge assistance from Travel Massive Africa’s Neil Jansson and the African Travel Crew) with the organizing of this event, and we’re looking forward to once again collaborating for #DigiSym2018!

About the Author: Tessa Buhrmann is the Founder, Traveller, and Editor of Responsible Traveller digital magazines in 2008. She loves to tell stories – from destination stories and people stories to stories about conservation and many other cool things.