Having been affected by the closing of borders during the pandemic, the collapse of their national air carrier, Air Namibia as well complicated travel restrictions, the agency encouraged the Namibia Tourism Board (NTB) to participate in a European Roadshow once the borders and travel restrictions had eased. The primary purpose of these roadshows was to rebuild relationships with key trade partners – many of whom had changed, drive brand awareness, encourage bookings to Namibia as well as support their local stakeholders.
ACTION
With limited budgets, we focused these roadshows on Namibia’s key source markets,
Germany, Netherlands and the UK. The roadshows were carried out over four days,
beginning in Munich and finishing in London. The agency recognised that while our target trade group is very similar, they respond differently to training and sales led events and so the agency worked meticulously with our city counterparts to adapt the format of each event.
Our target market included product managers from key tour operators, sales agents and homeworkers.
When planning the roadshow, the agency recognised that while our target trade group is very similar, they respond differently to training and sales led events and so the agency worked meticulously with our city counterparts to adapt the format of the evenings accordingly. For the German markets, the events were conducted in a classroom style with tour operators engrossed in partner presentations. For the Netherlands, trade partners respond best to a more informal event with casual networking over refreshments. For the UK, the trade respond best by learning as you go in a speed networking format, hopping from table to table in short intervals. While the agency ensured that every partner was given ample time to present their product to partners, the agency also ensured NTB were well represented and provided their own welcome and update to the audience on arrival and ensured guests were well catered for with drinks and refreshments. The agency also managed a prize draw for agents at the end of each event which was kindly sponsored by the participating partners. Our target group of trade for all four events included product managers and buyers from key tour operators, sales agents, sales managers, homeworkers as well as business owners. The agency also ensured that this group of trade was a mix of both existing business partners but also new, potential business partners to establish future
partnerships.
The venue details for all events were as follows:
12 September 2022 Munich – Courtyard by Marriott Munich City East
13 September 2022 Frankfurt – Courtyard by Marriott Munich City East
14 September 2022 Amsterdam – Hilton Doubletree Central Station
15 September 2022 London – Hilton London Olympia Hotel
The attending partners were as follows:
Ethiopian Airlines
Ondili Lodges + Activities
Okonjima Nature Reserve
Abenteuer Afrika Safari
Gondwana Collection Namibia
African Profile Safaris
Naturally Namibia
Fly Namibia
Sense of Africa
Namibia Wildlife Resorts
Naankuse Ecotourism – Collection
RESULTS
Our key objectives of this mission were successfully met with plenty of positive feedback from both the trade partners and the participating stakeholders.
Our key objectives of this mission were met whereby the events were in-person focused events, to retain relationships with the trade, drive brand awareness which the agency did continuously pre-event, during event and post-event. The event also delivered on inspiring the trade to encourage visitor growth to the destination as we showcased the new NTB consumer video as well provided an update to the trade for each event. Our stakeholders were also inspirational with their own product updates which were supported with our prize draws and finally our stakeholders were involved throughout the four-day mission which even included a WhatsApp group, meeting our last objective.
RESULTS CALLOUTS
1. Met with over 200 key trade members across four cities, updating them with destination and product updates
2. Over 10 Namibian stakeholder partners, including Ethiopian Airlines attended and
supported the event
