Shortage of the fundamentals of using computers plus inexperience in global marketing have been mentioned as factors that impede the tourism potential of Tanzania.
Mshely Ivan the General Manager of the White Lion a tour operator based in Dar es Salaam informed us that online tourism marketing is a obstacle to a several tour operators within the country.
Ivan added that tourism agencies in Asia, Europe as well as America are currently moving swiftly in front of its African competitors. Presently they are marketing by means of social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as a brand-new channel to obtain clients rapidly around the world.
He explained that with tourists progressively wanting to buy their tour packages on the internet, tour operators in Tanzania end up being faced with the uphill however unavoidable task of adjusting to online marketing strategies.
Ivan from white lion company which is among the quickest rising tour businesses in Tanzania added that there isn’t any query that online marketing is now the best way of obtaining tourists from foreign countries.
In accordance with Ivan, the agents broadly promote themselves in America or Europe, the top tourist sources that enter into Tanzania.
He added that tourism agents from foreign countries for example in Holland have accessibility to broad TV coverage where they run adverts for as many as 7 times each day
Ivan remarked that a nice website is important, however remarks that it isn’t enough to seize the tourism market in foreign countries.
Immediately after designing a nice website, then you shou;ld adverise the website on TV. You do not simply create a website and wait around for tourists to go browsing to it. But good it is, in case it not strongly promoted then no tourists will get to find out about it, not to mention visits it
He mentioned that skills in websites is required. However to get a great design cost as much as $ 2000 it ought to be the finest website. However he admitted that $2000 is pricey for small tour operators.
Ivan stated that it is a good challenge for tour operators within Tanzania, since they don’t have immediate accessibility to the tourists. Despite it being challenging to have direct contact, the fact is that all highly effective companies within Tanzania possess tour agents in foreign countries.
Everything becomes complex because most Europeans would rather buy online from local agents since first they feel really secure and secondly given that they feel comfy when getting in touch with someone they believe are nearer to them.
He added that is where the largest marketing concern lies, most of the tourists don’t buy online right from us, it’s extremely difficult to acquire a tourist that logs into a website and then chats direct with a Tanzania tour operator
Basing on his experience, he says more than Seventy Percent of the deals are sealed through agents. But, online marketing concern impacts mainly smaller companies, that can’t raise the huge capital required for traveling as well as advertising.
Devota Mdachi The acting Managing Director of Tanzania Tourist Board – TTB said that the most important international trend in advertising is changing of shopping behavior of consumers towards intensive usage of online marketing resources as well as online information sources.
