July 21, 2010 – East Africa is being challenged to use the fast growing internet frontier to market their companies and products offered in the tourism sector.

What with the rising dominance of e-commerce and social media networking – the tourism business has no choice but to revolutionize itself.

To make things a bit easier and put it into perspective perhaps, E Tourism Frontiers will be holding a two-day conference plus a Travel Technology Exhibition in Nairobi on the 2nd and 3rd of September.

Known as the E Tourism East Africa Conference, it is expected to help the sector understand and leverage the online opportunities and the new technologies available in the region.

Damian Cook, the CEO of E Tourism Frontiers explains, “Online sales have been have experienced major growth in the past year. Travel is now the number one selling commodity online and is generating over US $110 billion annually in sales. We must get more African tourism products available to the online travel shopper, especially following the massive interest in Africa after the World Cup”, said Cook.

Following the success of conferences held last year in South Africa and East Africa, the E Tourism East Africa Conference, which is being sponsored by Safaricom, KCB and Crowne Plaza Hotel Nairobi, will include presentations from some of the world’s leading experts on online tourism, including Trip Advisor, Expedia, WAYN.com and Google. Sessions will include website development, e-commerce, online reservations and booking, e-marketing, multimedia, Web 2.0 marketing, user generated content, social networks and mobile marketing.

The E Tourism Frontiers CEO said many companies attending the previous events had already experienced major results and a revolutionized approach to marketing.

“We have seen many companies switch to online marketing and invest heavily in their digital presence after attending our events. We have received great feedback especially from SMEs who have made the move online and then recorded a dramatic boost to their business. Uganda Wildlife Authority placed their Mountain Gorillas on Facebook last year, through the Friend a Gorilla programme. We also saw Expedia expand into East Africa as a result of our first conference in Nairobi in 2008”, said Damian Cook.

The E Tourism East Africa Conference will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel – Upper Hill, Nairobi.

Registration for the E Tourism East Africa Conference is open now

Register at www.e-tourismfrontiers.com