Happy New Year.

Or is it?

The recession, elections in South Africa, Gaza, Darfur, Zimbabwe, global warming and the battle against my addiction to the idea of tossing out of the proverbial window this unstable, unreliable and unlikable computer and spending everything that’s left on something that sounds edible.

It’s not going to be an easy year.

Although that’s not news to anyone anymore, is it? - but already I’ve heard rumblings about smaller marketing budgets and downsizing (ew: how did THAT lazy bit of jargon ever come out of my keyboard?).

You, of course, are far too intelligent and savvy to reduce the size of (= downsize) your marketing budget right now, right?

Right. You’re gonna increase your budgets and place your advertising more wisely. Hey?

Not.

Which is why I was intrigued to receive an e-mailed invitation from the organisers of the Great Wall of China Marathon (see YouTube Vid below).

“Happy New Year to you from Beijing China,” wrote the organiser, Zhu Guihua.

“From January 3 till Jan 8, we contact 2008 travel services from over 200 countries and regions in this world. Your company is one of the 2008 travel services that we expect to have the cooperation towards the Great Wall of China Marathon. We believe 1000 will finally cooperate with us, the Chinese organizers of Great Wall of China Marathon, which would be held on Friday May 1, 2009.

“… We look forward to your reply of Yes or No. Then we will forward more details information to the YES companies. We promise all the Yes companies would be offered a free hotel room in Beijing on April 30, 2009, and we would like to have the face-to-face talk with you and you can best observe the Great Wall of China Marathon on May 1,2009!

“We believe the cooperation would not only bring the completely new interest to your companies but also weave a new colourful ribbon of friendship with very friendly Chinese people and the wonderful runners from other 200 different countries and regions.

“Sincerely Most, Zhu Guihua, Top Organizer of the Great Wall of China Marathon. www.greatwallmarathon.com.cn ”

You may snigger at the English - but you can’t fault the Idea, the Research that went into it and the cost effectiveness of the Campaign.

It’s called experiential marketing (or ‘bums-in-seats-sell-seats’) and I don’t understand why our tourism industry doesn’t do more of it.

“We want you to promote South Africa! Come to our Indaba! Discover how alive with possibilities (for the ruling elite and a few of their cronies) South Africa really is! Meet interesting people and pay out of your nose for the privilege of sleeping in one of our beds while you’re here!…”

I think you get my point.

But on your level - as a hotelier, restaurateur or the owner of an attraction - are you doing the same? You’re asking people to pay you for an experience (which is all that tourism really is, when you boil it down), but are you offering them tantalising tidbits to get them talking? Because - I promise you this - it’s talk that’s going to get us through the coming year.

When I started my first tourism business I had no money: just a loaned boat and permission from SANParks to take people on bird-watching tours in the Wilderness National Park (this was in 1994). It was a total hand-to-mouth existence, and I knew that my hand wouldn’t reach my mouth if I didn’t give it a little bit of help.

So I set about systematically inviting every front-of-house staff member at every hotel, guest house and B&B in our area to come along for a free tour at any time that suited them (and sometimes that meant I had to take them and them only - with no paying guests aboard). Managers, waiters, porters, even chambermaids - they all came along and learned about the kingfisher and the fish eagle, the cormorant and the white-eye.

The result? In the 23 months I ran the business (it was closed when the floods of ’96 silted the river and made it impassable at low tide), my little 18-seater boat entertained than 6,000 bums - although only about 4,800 of them paid.

But to this day I’m convinced that at least 80% of those paying customers paid because they’d been talked into coming along by my newly-minted brand ambassadors.

And that’s my point. It’s going to be tough this year, but I believe the people who survive will be the ones who increase their marketing, rather than decrease it, and the ones who market their products most efficiently.

And what could be more efficient in an industry that sells experiences - than experiential marketing.

Stay informed! Visit This Tourism Week’s Media Room and my Jobs in Tourism page … and go to the BarefootBookshop to find the finest reading for you and your guests.

What’s Martin Reading?
This is the kind of book I always look for when I look through a guest house’s collection: something that’ll entertain me for a few hours, but one that I’ll be happy enough to leave behind even if I haven’t finished reading it.

… More about this book here

Indigenous Landscaping in the Knysna Area
Indigenous is the way to go - it’s water-savvy and environmentally friendly (and politically correct, of course). If you’re looking for a garden make-over, visit Knysna’s finest landscaping team - Dynamic Landscaping - at www.dynamiclandscaping.co.za

Now may I suggest that we all do something to help our industry?
… Go away on holiday …

And have a GREAT Tourism Week!

Here’s a YouTube vid of the Great Wall Marathon

- you may not understand the language, but you’ll enjoy the footage!