Travel and tour operators including event managers and hoteliers have been advised to use Information Communication Technology (ICT) to provide on-line access to tourism services. This is a bid to increase sales and competitiveness in Rwanda’s tourism sector. According to Damien Cook, Managing Director e-tourism Africa all players in the tourism industry should own on-line platforms through which clients can make direct purchases like buying plane tickets and booking hotel accommodation. “On-line intermediaries offer direct online sales of travel with dynamic packaging which allows you to build your own trip from different suppliers,” Cook said. Cook was speaking at last week’s one day meeting between the ‘On The Frontier’ (OTF) group and players in the tourism sector in Rwanda. OTF is a completive consulting group in Rwanda. The meeting focused on leveraging on-line marketing and management tools for the success of the tourism industry. He said that the use of e-tourism will also help tourists to easily compare services by different suppliers but it requires creating an online community where partners can communicate to the government, to their markets and to each other. Rwanda has positioned herself to become a regional ICT hub and is heavily investing in the ICT sector to accelerate development and economic growth, and global competitiveness. The adoption of e-tourism could be a big boost towards the realisation of these goals. Cook’s comments come when statistics show that there are estimated 1.2b Internet users globally and currently forecasts suggest 1.5b people will have Internet access by 2011. “Majority of Africa is virtually invisible on-line. Even those that do appear tend to be driven from outside Africa using Global Distribution System (GDS) or offshore commerce,” he said. Statistics also show that the Internet has replaced traditional destination marketing tools, becoming the largest source of both information and direct sales of travel, previously done through direct contact with travel or tour operators whose role is fast changing. “The e-travel market has developed in the last 10 years with on-line sales accounting for about 20 per cent of the global retail travel sector in 2006, this is expected to continue growing,” cook said. He said that less than 2 percent Africa’s total tourism revenue consists of on-line sales. He added that for Rwanda to succeed in e-tourism it requires a 3-4 year strategic plan and building on ICT resources. “There is need to create a space in which communication can take place between government, trade and consumers build a business platform, encourage innovation, invention and creativity,” cook said. “Capacity gaps allow us to learn from the experience of the rest of the world and to learn from their mistakes. The web is a democratic environment and a level playing field, unburdened by borders and allows a greater culture of choice, and access to greater demand- and ‘long tail economics,” he said of the opportunities available in e-tourism. Ends
