2 Years on - So What has Changed?

Learnings from my 1st Trade Show in 2 years

For over a decade I’ve visited travel trade shows around the world, not only to promote our business but also to learn about the travel and tourism industry, its challenges, and to understand how it was evolving. During those years, I could see the industry tentatively moving with the times but not really embracing change.

The travel industry consists of an amazing collection of people – they love travel, they’re good with people, they are passionate, outgoing, and they love what they do. I have also found (and this is a generalisation of course) that they tend to be reluctant to change their way of thinking and operating despite their environment changing rapidly.

After two years of pandemic restrictions, like many of my industry friends I headed up to the Victoria Falls to attend my first in-person trade show, hosted by Africa’s Eden – a DMO started by a group of forward-thinking business leaders from the region. They decided to take matters into their own hands, change things up and take responsibility for marketing their region and not rely on others.

And what a great success it was! The excitement was palpable – it was like a long overdue reunion. Hats off to the brave (crazy) organising committee for standing fast in the face of Omicron, quarantines, travel bans, etc. It looked like a regular trade show, operated like one, but it was clear the ground had shifted – some things have changed. Here are just a few of my observations:

Questioning the Status Quo

The travel industry ground to a complete halt and went into survival mode as the full impact of COVID-19 became clear almost immediately two years ago.?Had the pandemic lasted only a few months, I think everyone would just have picked up where they left off. The fact that it has lasted this long means that travel businesses have had to question everything they do. Everyone has had to cut and limit their resources – both people and money. They've had these past two years to think about business and how to return to it. They realised they wouldn’t be able to go back to the way they were, nor could they afford to.?

Trade shows are here to stay

Nothing can replace the personal connection you make in a face-to-face meeting – so much is communicated non-verbally and subliminally that is impossible to recreate online. That said, many have questioned the value of trade shows and the best way to spend marketing budgets.?

The thinking with Africa’s Eden was that the amount of money their members spent exhibiting at trade shows to connect with trade partners outside of their region was massive. Surely this money would be better spent bringing their partners into the region, and getting them to experience the destinations for themselves? Standing on the banks of the great Zambezi, watching the sun set, water rushing by, while enjoying the local food, drink and entertainment – now that is an authentic experience! Very hard to argue against this logic...

Collaboration and Compassion

Competition limits collaboration. But COVID-19 landed everyone in the same mess; so, it removed the need to compete. It forced destinations, businesses and travel products to work together. These have had to support one another and find solutions together. The result has been many new and improved partnerships and relationships within the industry.

Compassion is a powerful lubricant that oils the wheels of collaboration. People seem to relate better with one another and care more, keener to share the burden.

That was the success of Africa’s Eden – everyone got involved and contributed to focus on the higher goal, namely, ensuring the region emerges strongly out of the mess, and growing travel. They put on an incredible show with limited resources and a low budget – a collaboration borne from mutual compassion.

Digital Transformation

Over the last 13 years, encouraging the travel industry to embrace technology fully has been a hard sell for me. I know it's difficult for some to adopt new technology and change the way they operate. Most businesses are reluctant and only do so when it becomes a necessity. The pandemic has given them the time to reflect on the future and adopt a new approaches.

The mindset seems to have changed from “what tech do I need to compete” to “how can I use tech to run my business better”. It's a more proactive, inquisitive, and open attitude.

?We are all start-ups

After two years of business hibernation, we are all short-staffed, with limited budgets and resources. The momentum we had pre-COVID is virtually lost. Momentum is a powerful dynamic that takes a big effort to get going again. But the landscapes have changed, relationships need to be rekindled, staff have forgotten how to do their jobs and need to be re-trained. We need to work smart, be agile and efficient, pay attention to the details, climb in, reinvest ourselves, and claw back that momentum.

My conclusion

It was great to participate in a trade show again, in-person. It was good to see everyone still standing and so positive, ready to create wonderful memories for travelers. ?As difficult as the pandemic has been, I am optimistic that we will come out of it better as an industry.

Let’s hope we don’t forget the valuable lessons we’ve learnt. Let us not drop our heads again once it starts getting busy again, but rather carry that momentum forward to strive for the future we want. Let us keep improving how we do things – let's stick with the big-picture thinking so we can flourish.

It truly warms my heart what Africa’s Eden has achieved. The idea was borne in the months prior to COVID-19 pandemic: they came together for the sake of a better future, they acknowledged the role technology can play, had a vision of what the future could look like, and then rolled up their sleeves; they embraced collaboration, and started building the organization together.

The Tradeshow was the perfect 2 year anniversary for Africa's Eden but only the tip of the iceberg: a vision of courage, and a success story that points the way forward for us all.