By Jenna van Schoor, 26 February 2020
Last year, I decided that instead of writing SEO copy about vacuum cleaners, that I would do my best to write more about things I cared about instead. Like Pretoria. This led me to join the Tshwane Tourism Association (TTA), which is a non-profit organisation that aims to bring together tourism businesses and stakeholders in the city to network and collaborate.
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5 Reasons to Attend the Tshwane Tourism Association (TTA) Showcase: 23 January 2020
By Jenna van Schoor, 17 January 2020
As the new year kicks off, we’re looking forward to growing our membership base, and collaborating with tourism stakeholders across Tshwane in 2020.
To show our commitment to this goal, we host our Tshwane Tourism Association (TTA) showcase in January every year, to give tourism buyers the chance to see what Tshwane has to offer. This includes a variety of exciting attractions and accommodation options within Tshwane.
The showcase is a valuable opportunity to meet and connect with buyers and other tourism service providers. If you wish to learn more about TTA members, or haven’t yet registered for the showcase on the 23rd of January 2020 at the CSIR, here are a handful of reasons why you should.
1. Networking Opportunities
As we mentioned above, the showcase provides valuable opportunities to network and build relationships at the beginning of the year. We know that you’ve got goals in mind that you’d like to achieve, which most likely includes growing your business. As many other attendees will be looking to do the same thing, this platform is ideal for cross- collaboration between different tourism service providers.
2. Collaboration is Key
In the hyper-connected world of today, working together is critical, especially when there are a number of socio-economic challenges to be faced. By working together, and building relationships with each other, we can all help to market Tshwane as a premier tourism destination, and all reap the benefits, together.
As travel industry expert Natalia Rosa stated in a recent Tourism Update post, now is the time for all South African’s to get behind tourism. Why not start with promoting our own capital city?
3. Stay in the Loop
With so much going on in the industry every day, it can be difficult to keep track of everything. By attending the TTA Showcase as a member however, you’ll be able to take advantage of the educational Symposium sessions on the day, which will give a valued overview of trends in the local tourism industry. This will serve as an addition to everything that you will learn by engaging with trade and other visitors to the event.
4. Showcase your business (TTA members)
TTA members each prepare a table-top trade exhibition on the day which gives them an opportunity to meet and network with a variety of other members, and find many potential opportunities for collaboration, and for creating exciting travel packages that incorporate different tourism related products and activities in the city.
5. Support Local Businesses
By attending the TTA showcase on the 23rd of January 2020, you’ll also be a part of a greater effort to support local tourism businesses in the greater Tshwane area. This includes supporting the food trucks and other vendors that will be selling food and drinks on the day. After all, as tourism service providers we’re all ultimately tourists ourselves, so why not get to promote your business, and support others, at the same time?
We look forward to seeing you there!
To register for the showcase, if you haven’t already, click here
TTA Annual Showcase 2020
By Jenna van Schoor, 05 February 2020
The annual Tshwane Tourism Association (TTA) showcase took place on Thursday the 23rd of January, at the CSIR Convention Centre.
The morning began with association members setting up their stands in the hall, and early morning coffees available in the pop up food stall area, which was happily open from 7am.
With over 110 table top exhibitions, and approximately 450 registrations to visit the showcase, it was clear from the beginning of the day that this would be a valuable event for all management and front-line staff of tourism businesses, trade buyers and other tourism stakeholders.
TTA Symposium: Packaging for the International Business and Leisure Tourist
To kick off the morning’s proceedings, TTA members who registered for the symposium joined a talk and interactive exercise led by Dr. Nellie Swart from The Department of Applied Management at UNISA.
The talk’s title was “Packaging for the International Business and Leisure Tourist”, and to begin, Dr Swart gave a brief insight into packaging and the importance of marketing multiple tourism businesses together, in order to appeal to a variety of audiences. After this, to break the ice, she asked members in the audience to choose from a number of shapes on the Powerpoint screen in front of them.
By selecting a certain shape, members then joined other members who had selected the same shape in a dedicated corner of the room. While just a simple exercise, this represents how different things appeal to different people, which is something to consider when putting together packages for varying tourism markets.
Following on from that, members were also split into groups and tasked with creating a tourism package in the city that included all the tourism businesses within the group. This was a great way to get members to share information about their businesses with one another, and think out of the box when it comes to putting together tourism packages with varying offerings across the city.
Through all of these interactive exercises, many insights were gained, mostly about the importance of collaboration and building relationships with other tourism businesses. By sharing ideas about how to appeal to different markets, it was also clear that there is still so much potential when it comes to attracting international visitors.
TTA Exhibition
After the symposium, the exhibition officially began at 11am, which gave all members an opportunity to network with other businesses in Tshwane and a number of other members and non-members who visited the event.
Some of the highlights included a live dance performance and some innovative artwork made from plastic waste, which forms part of an art collective in Dinokeng. From eco-friendly amenities to liability insurance, and from suburban accommodation properties to newly built inner city apartment complexes, it was clear from the variety of businesses on show that there is no lack of diversity when it comes to Tshwane’s tourism offerings.
Overall, the day was therefore a success, and gave many new businesses the opportunity to market themselves, and for existing businesses to share some of their exciting new developments. In addition, the food trucks outside, that provided a steady supply of coffees, curries, pizzas and other delicious food and drinks to visitors, are another example of the way that multiple different businesses can benefit from the growth of tourism in our city.
Thank you to all of our members who took the time to exhibit at the event, and for all the input during the symposium. We hope that you enjoyed it and look forward to welcoming you back to our next annual event next year!
For more insight into the event, watch the video below:
https://youtu.be/khcHzo2fXw8
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