THIS TOURISM WEEK Number 71 - Friday 20 July, 2007

THIS TOURISM WEEK Number 71 - Friday 20 July, 2007

Brought to you By The Extreme Hotel, Cape Town

Blog Me, I’m Clueless

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See, I recently discovered Hugh McLeod’s web site - http://www.gapingvoid.com/ - and Hugh’s got this incredible way of looking at the world. He seems to be based in Britain (though you can never tell these days) and he’s got an interest in a wine estate called Stormhoek here in the Beloved Country. And here’s the point: on December 29, 2005, he wrote that “Blogging doubled Stormhoek sales in less than twelve months.”

He said that he’d sent out a hundred complementary bottles of the good stuff to bloggers who lived in the UK, Ireland or France, who were adults in good standing (before they started drinking, I assume) and who’d been blogging regularly for 3 months or more. Oh - and they were under no obligations: “If they just wanted to snarf the wine and say nothing, or say something negative, that was fine. It was their call,” he wrote.

“As it turned out, a lot of them ended up writing about it. A meme of sorts was created, and it spread.

“I have been saying this for years, and still not everybody believes me: ‘Blogs are a good way of making things happen indirectly.’

“No, bloggers and their friends didn’t start suddenly descending on supermarkets, buying the wine in large numbers. That’s not how it works.

“What happened is that by interfacing with the blogosphere, it fundamentally changed how Stormhoek looked at treating their primary customers (the supermarket chains) and the end-users (the supermarkets’ customers).

“i.e. It caused an internal disruption, both within the company and the actual trade. Wine drinkers’ basic purchasing habits didn’t change because of the meme, but the meme allowed Stormhoek to align itself more closely with said habits.”

The important thing is - and this, I think, is the defining trend in marketing today - the membrane separating the estate from its customers was punctured (‘the membrane’ is the barrier that exisits between people inside a corporate culture and those on the outside - see http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/001607.html).

Then on December 29, 2006, Mr. McLeod wrote: “When I first started working with Stormhoek in May, 2005, they were tracking about 50,000 cases sold per year. By year’s end that figure had doubled to 100,000. Right now we’ve doubled again, to just over 200,000 cases a year. By Second Quarter 2007 we’re on schedule to be tracking around 250,000 cases shipped per year.

“… that’s looking like a five-fold increase in sales in less than two years. And it wouldn’t have happened without the blogosphere, which is at the very epicenter of everything we do. Thanks, Everybody!”

So, Gerry - that’s what you were trying to tell me, is it?

I wonder what blogging could do for tourism?

Well, yes, but it depends on the people and their approach to their guests.

I recently stayed at the Extreme Hotel in Cape Town. It’s urban and edgy and very, very exciting and if you’re a country boy like me and you wanna go to the city, this is the way to go. It’s right at the top of Bree Street and I was there for the Cape Town Book Fair, so I fell into a routine of walking down to the International Convention Centre each morning (very doable) and then, when I was good and tired, taking a taxi back up the hill in the evenings (indulgent but probably responsible - especially in the dark).

I really enjoyed the Bose sound system in my room and - pleasure! - the laptop-friendly electronic safe (I felt quite secure leaving my life behind and quite liberated not having to carry it around all the time). Then there were the in-room showers (romantic) with en-suite toilets (practical) and the flat screen TVs.

But best of all - and, dammit, I only discovered it on my last day there - was the milkshake menu (available at the very sociable bar in the reception area or through room service).

A heaven of pumpkin, marshmallow and caramel? A mix of avocado and green apple? Smooth chock-chip cookie dough? A Peanana Nutter of peanut butter and bananas? They may sound odd, but they’re delicious - and they represent the hotel’s unique way of thinking about tourism and its unique way of treating its guests.

It’s about having fun while you’re getting things done - and that’s the way I like it.

So, Mr. Barperson, get my Double Espresso Morning Glory ready for me - because I’ll be back.

http://www.extreme-hotels.com/; 198 Bree Street, Cape Town. +27 (21) 488 2555

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…Have a Great Tourism Week!

MARTIN HATCHUEL

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