Social Media Week Lagos is finally (well almost) here. It’s 6th edition kicks off from February 26, 2018- March 2, 2018. We are pumped and excited, especially for Travel Africa Day. Social Media Week is an annual conference that most people consider Africa’s largest digital media and technology event. The event reaches over 454million people online and it’s free and open to the public.
The Social Media Week gets attendance from many parts of the continent, discussing topical issues from all aspects of life. This year, Travel Africa Day will hold on Tuesday, 27th February 2018. Here, the travel panels usually have their sessions. As we received the schedule, the travel sessions specifically caught our eyes, for obvious reasons, and their topics got us curious. There are four travel sessions hosted by some of our friends in the industry. In an interview with the hosts of these sessions, they shared with us the reason behind their topics of discussion and what attendants should expect! This years travel sessions are hosted by Nene Uwa of Ajala Nene, Funmi Oyatogun ofTvp Adventures,Sam Adeleke of Travel massive and Moni Baruwa of Countless miles. Check out their responses below:
TVP Adventures says;
Reasons behind your topic for discussion: We chose to discuss the topic because we have noticed that different aspects of the travel and tourism industry in Nigeria are operating in different pockets. If we operate in cohesion, we can climb bigger mountains.
What you hope participants will gain from it: Participants will be able to interact with a host of experienced tour operators, travel bloggers and tourism experts. They will share ideas on how their different niche areas can meet travel needs within Nigeria. The goal is to help Nigerians uncover a new Nigeria and enhance the potential for a rejuvenated tourism industry in Nigeria. This meetup will expose opportunities to build stronger tourism networks while working CLOSER together.
TOPIC: Help! Can Nigeria meet my travel needs?
DATE & TIME:Tuesday, February 27, 2018. 4.30pm-6.30pm
Travel Massive says;
Reasons behind your topic for discussion:The reason behind the topic is to explore the impact of travel technology on social media engagement. How it can be profitably deployed to build new communities and encourage collaboration.
What you hope participants will gain from it: Participants will gain knowledge on how to study social media engagement and analytics for their travel business. How can functional communities be built and engaged for social impact and business profitably? What investors are looking for in a 21st century travel company. How tour operators and travel agents can scale their businesses using mobile technology. How to explore blue ocean opportunities in the travel and tourism sector. The existing tech tools that can be deployed by travel and tourism businesses to drive growth. The existing talent gap in travel tech development and how can they be filled.
TOPIC: Driving Travel decisions and building symbiotic communities
DATE & TIME:Tuesday, February 27, 2018. 6.00pm- 7.00pm
Countless Miles says:
Reason behind your topic of discussion:This session will focus on the role the Africa traveller plays in the global tourism ecosystem and the community. We believe that travel should be a tool to change the social and economic landscape of Africa. Exposing our citizens to other cultures, immersive travel can foster both individual and economic development on two fronts. Firstly, the obvious effect of increased focus on encouraging Africans to embrace legitimate global immersive travel is that they become real-life ambassadors of our heritage and culture at their destination, dispelling negative opinions in the media, and encouraging others to travel to Africa. This is far more powerful than anything a potential tourist to Africa would see on the internet. Engaging more Africans in immersive travel can also help to develop tourism relationships with other countries, which will further improve global perception of the typical African. Secondly, Africans engaging in immersive travel will undergo a mindset shift, which will inadvertently transform and positively impact the way they interact with their community when they return home.
What you hope participants will gain from it:The Africa traveller should be seen as a key value creator in the tourism ecosystem and the community. Legitimate global immersive travel is the key to unlocking the value the African traveller can create. This value created by the legitimate immersive traveller will bring a positive shift in global perceptions and progressive impact on the community.
TOPIC: The individual African Traveller as a value creator in the community
DATE & TIME:Tuesday, February 27, 2018. 5.30pm-6.30pm
Nene Uwa Hub says:
Reason behind your topic of discussion: We want to educate people especially travelers/tourists on how to be “Responsible Travelers” by using tourism activities as a tool to developing the economy, society and environment. When individuals with the same tourism and conservation interest come together, we create a community that will help build up the tourism industry in Nigeria and the world. By using the social media platforms, we get the opportunity to share our stories of how we are working both as individuals and as groups to make impact in our communities through the Tourism industry.
What you hope participants will gain from it: We hope for participants to gain the following:
(a) Know why the Tourism industry is important and how it affects our society, economy and environment
(b) The benefits of being a Responsible Traveler by practicing Sustainable Tourism
(c) Learn why we should invest in the Nigerian tourism industry and tourism as a whole.
TOPIC: Sustainable tourism: A tool for community development
DATE & TIME:Tuesday, February 27, 2018. 1.00pm-2.00pm
We hope their answers have riled you up and we hope to see you at some of the sessions. We are on the travel massive panel so catch us there giving our two cents on building symbiotic travel communities. For more information on the entire event, visit the SMWLagos website here
