The Role Of E-Commerce In Africa’s Hotel Industry

Written by Staff

Jan 27, 2015

A report by World Travel Market predicts mobile channel is expected to account for 30 percent of online travel value sales by 2017. At the same time, United Nations World Tourism Organization places e-tourism at a global 59 percent. Both reports evidently point to a shift in the hotel industry, a main player in the tourism industry. It’s important for local industry players to take the hint and embrace e-commerce.

Second only to the country’s natural resources, the hotel industry is integral to the booming tourism industry. Tourism is a significant factor in the global economy, responsible for 10 percent of the world’s GDP. The industry also accounts for 30 of service imports and one out of every 11 jobs worldwide, according to a report by United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Online tourism is growing in Africa

To online booking platform Jovago.com, these numbers mean more than the fluctuating tourist arrivals in Africa. The company has been instrumental in creating an online presence for hotels in continent.

As explains Estelle Verdier, Managing Director for Jovago, the hotel industry is constantly changing and growing to meet new demands and expectations. One huge factor is the global shift to e-commerce, owing to the need to adapt technology in any company’s marketing structure.

So far, the website hosts close to 4,000 hotels in East Africa, half of which had no online presence before. In fact, if Kenya is to stay on an upward trajectory in the business, “we must embrace the rise of digital and mobile marketing methods, and remember a web based business knows no international boundaries.”

The explosion of online tourism is not only limited to hotel bookings, as indicated in a report by the UNWTO; 59 percent of research, actual booking, cost comparisons, payments and reviews are done online.

Although guests may not fully discard traditional offline hotel research, the study indicates that the average consumer will visit 14 travel-related sites before making an online booking, roughly using each site three times. They will also carry out nine travel-related searches on Google and other search engines.