By Nikita Geldenhuys

Some say Instagram has become a destination marketing tool, among other things. From your experience with the @SouthAfrica Instagram account, what value do you think Instagram has in supporting tourism – and especially tourism in South Africa?

Not only is Instagram one of the biggest social media platforms on the planet, it’s also one of the most visually powerful. With tourism decision making being highly visual and experience influenced, Instagram provides the tourism industry with a powerful opportunity to visually inspire people to travel. 

South Africa is one of the most stunning destinations on the planet, with a vast range of visual treats that we can share with the world via Instagram. It’s only natural that Instagram, with the millions of people the platform reaches, is a tourism marketing opportunity that can’t be ignored.

Do you think South African organisations, brands, and companies involved in tourism are using Instagram to its full potential?

There are a number of local companies using Instagram well to showcase their tourism destinations and experiences, but it’s still not favoured over other platforms which may not be as suited. 

South Africa as a country is well marketed through consumer-generated content, tourists, and locals who regularly post spectacular images and stories, but specific destinations haven’t yet jumped on the full opportunity available to them.

The consumer-generated content really does a lot to drive tourism, and local companies should be aggressively working to position their specific offering to this highly engaged audience.

What does it take – time and resource-wise – to create and maintain an Instagram account such as @SouthAfrica?

@SouthAfrica is easy and cheap to run because, as a feature account, it shares images that other people have taken – with credit to the original photographer. The only time requirement is finding the images, which has become easier as more people tag the account.

Running a commercial account will be more expensive because the company will need to invest in imagery and storytelling, and invest in getting the account profiled through other Instagram users. 

What pointers do you have for organisations looking to start an Instagram account to promote tourism?

The first step, beyond having a presence, is to encourage visitors to mention and tag your account when they post pictures during their stay. Beyond that, you must avoid sharing your typical ‘brochure’ type images and instead favour sharing images that inspire people to want the experiences associated with your tourism offering. 

If you can inspire people to travel, and you were the source of the inspiration, they’ll use you when they do visit. All fluffy pillow and buffet photos look the same – these types of pictures highlight people’s minimum expectations. Instagram is an inspiration platform, you need to inspire people to travel, to travel to South Africa, to experience what you have on offer. If you get this right, the process of them choosing to spend money with you is an easy step.

Instagram also has a strong community focus, so work with your local Instagrammers to help build your content and promote your account. As the followers start to flow, keep them engaged with rich, inspiring stories. The combined story is often more powerful than the quality of the image.

See the @SouthAfrica Instagram account here.