Off to SATTIC – see you there?

This weekend we’ll be in Gauteng for the first South African Travel and Tourism Industry Conference – SATTIC (2-4 September at the Protea Hotel OR Tambo). http://www.tourismvision2020.co.za/

This collaboration between the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) and the Association of South African Travel Agents (ASATA), the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (FEDHASA), the National Accommodation Association of South Africa (NAA-SA), the Southern African Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (SAVRALA) and the Southern African Tourism Services Association (SATSA) aims to “facilitate industry cooperation and to reduce the proliferation of conferences within the sector. By convening one conference at the beginning of Tourism Month we aim to create a central platform where members can address industry specific issues, as well as the challenges and opportunities which impact on the entire sector.”

So instead of the various associations holding their own conferences every year – which “usually attract the same delegates and tend to address the same macro-economic issues” – the whole thing’s been rolled into one, with “two-and-a-half days of deliberations, exhibitions, networking and social events with an expanded programme allowing for close delegate interaction.”

It all seems to make a lot of sense – except, you do have to wonder why now, in September, rather than in May, when we’re all in Durban for the Indaba anyway (or why isn’t the Indaba now, in September, when it doesn’t have to compete with so many other international shows… Pow Wow, anyone?.

Still, it’s going to be good, and I’ll be tweeting (@ThisTourismWeek), blogging (www.thistourismweek.co.za) and maybe even vidcasting from the event (www.youtube.com/martinhatcuel).

Live streaming? I don’t know – can’t find anything on the site about that, but we live in hope…

Oh, and another thing: I’ll be on the spot during the breakaway session on ‘Opportunities in social media and communications” (Tuesday, 11:00 – 12:30, with a report back from: 13:30 – 14:45). The session will be moderated by journalist Ashraf Garda, and William Price, SA Tourism’s eTourism business manager, Flow Communications CEO, Tara Turkington, and Southern African Tourism Update consulting editor, Sue van Winsent will be my co-conspirators.

We’ve been set some pretty lofty objectives: identify the unique contribution that communications and the social web can make to South Africa as a destination; identify the risks involved in not participating in the social web – or in not responding sufficiently rapidly and effectively to its trends; define the social web in tourism terms; learning from various case studies; and agree on how we can establish – and what prevent us from establishing – a role for the social web and communications in Tourism.

(And you’ll notice I’ve changed ‘social media’ to ‘the social web.’ Why? Find out here: ‘The social web for grannies.’) – see  http://www.slideshare.net/MartinHatchuel1/social-web-for-grannies – and below

There’s more about the South African Travel and Tourism Industry Conference – SATTIC – at http://www.tourismvision2020.co.za