Sojern brings digital travel marketing technology to South Africa in latest expansion

Cape Town, South Africa, July 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — sojerna leading provider of digital marketing solutions for travel, today announced its expansion into South Africa to better serve partners and capitalize on the growing post-pandemic tourism boom. Stuart Smithmanaging director of Sojern for the Middle East and Africawill oversee the launch after successfully deploying Sojern’s solutions in other regions over the past eight years.

“South Africa has been hit harder than many countries by COVID-19, the travel industry, especially across the country, has been brought to its knees. Following the Omicron variant at the end of 2021, the country is now in a fantastic position to capitalize on the global travel recovery and Sojern is launching at a brilliant time to help travel marketers remind travelers why South Africa is one of the greatest countries in the world,” Smith said.

Since the start of the pandemic, Sojern Insights has fueled research on the recovery of travel and tourism for the United Nations World Tourism Organizationthe Asia-Pacific Travel Association (PATA) and Skift Search. It also offers weekly self-service trips knowledge to help hotels, attractions and tourism offices understand travel behaviors and plan for recovery. Here are some of the top travel trends he is identified with South Africa in 2022:

• Flight bookings are on the rise! In May 2022flight bookings are up 25% from their 2021 levels.
• Some destinations are recovering faster than others: Destinations like Kimberley and Bloemfontein are up year-on-year, however, they are still far from their booking and search volumes in 2019.
• Flight prices are volatile: COVID-19 has caused a drastic drop in prices for inbound flights, but international fares to South Africa are now actually above their 2019 levels
• Domestic travel is still booming: 49.9% of flight reservations to South Africa derived from South Africa, demonstrating the critical importance of domestic travel. UK is 2^n/aat 9.3%, with the United States ranking 3^rd at 5.4%, followed by Germany (4%) and Zimbabwe (2.5%).
• How far in advance do people book? Most domestic travel is immediate, while foreign visitors book their vacation trips from December to South Africa already. Interestingly, international travelers are booking further in advance in 2022 than they did in 2019, while domestic travelers are booking closer to their departure date than before the pandemic.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the South African tourism industry. Tourism has contributed 130 billion rand in 2018 and constituted nearly 3% of direct contribution to GDP in South Africa, while the tourism sector accounted for about 4.5% of total employment. But according to the Tourism 2020 report published by Statistics South Africa, in 2020 the volume of tourists decreased by 72.6% from 10.2 million in 2019 to 2.8 million in 2020.

After two turbulent years, the country’s tourism and hospitality industry is now showing strong signs of recovery. Although the travel industry has been heavily impacted by the pandemic, Sojern continues to work with thousands of hotels, attractions, airlines and destinations each year around the world. Positioning itself as the essential partner for tourism professionals who wish to be supported in their ongoing recovery, the company has continued to gain market share in the region. With Sojern, the South African travel industry can now leverage the latest marketing technology to drive direct bookings, increase web traffic, grow loyalty programs, and more, using machine learning and science-based technology. world-class data.

About Sojern

Sojern is a leading digital marketing platform designed for travel marketers. Leveraging artificial intelligence and traveler intent data, Sojern provides multi-channel marketing solutions to drive direct demand. Thousands of hotels, attractions, tourist boards and travel agencies rely on Sojern each year to engage and convert travelers from around the world.

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