South Africa’s tourism industry associations showing social media fatigue
An analysis of the country’s tourism industry associations’ social media engagement with
their members over the last 28 days does not make for good reading, according to
consulting agency TaranisCo Advisory.
The agency analysed the Facebook (Meta) profiles of some of the country’s major tourism
industry associations and reported that the Southern African Association for the
Conference Industry (SAACI) leads the log for being the most followed association.
It has around 21,000 followers, and the fifth top position is held by the SA Events Council
with around 3,400 followers. More than half of the associations included in the analysis
only have between 2,000 and 1000 members per se, which is reflective of the size of the
industry.
The only industry association that showed an increase in followers for the period is the
Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA), which saw an increase of less than
half a percent in its total followers of 13,000.
None of the other major industry associations in the country saw an increase in the
amount of followers for the period stated.
The TBCSA is also the most active for posting information and achieved an average of
1.5 posts per day, while at the other end of the scale, the SA Events Council did not post
anything for that period.
In terms of the level of followers interacting with posts from these associations, the Event
Greening Council obtained the highest engagement levels, with almost a half-percent
rate, as an average on all its posts.
According to Gerrit Davids, Lead at the agency, “None of the nine industry associations
measured in the analysis scored a point out of 100 for the performance of their respective
pages, which means to say, that none of them had any significant increase on metrics like
growth or engagement, respectively.”
David says, “South Africa’s tourism industry associations are struggling to maintain an
effective social media presence, as evidenced by low engagement rates, inconsistent
posting, and limited follower growth.”
“Industry associations can significantly enhance their brand visibility, attract new
members, and support the sector’s growth by implementing effective social media
strategies,” said Davids.
Ends/
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