New TV channel to promote Seychelles and other Southern African countries |24 November 2007

This is the opinion of Pierre van der Hoven, Chief Executive Officer of Digital Sky Investments, the Johannesburg based company that was recently awarded the sole license to commission content and market Southern Africa Direct in the Southern African region.     “According to regional statistics the United Kingdom supplies the largest number of visitors to the region and it is growing fast,” he says.   

“In 2006 alone the number of visitors from the UK to the region grew by 6.3%.”
 However van der Hoven believes the region is currently not getting its fair share of the British tourist market’s wallet.  

“International statistics show us that tourism accounts for a staggering 12% of consumer spending and this is growing by 4,5% annually. The world is on the move and there is a growing interest in exploring the unexplored.  However while there is a high level of interest in exploring the Southern African region, currently the conversion rate is low,” he says.   

This, he says, is due to the fact that there is a lack of quality information on what the region has to offer to the tourist.    

“Marketers presenting their offering to potential tourists have been precluded from presenting their offering internationally via television because of the high cost of airing their advertisements.  This has left the industry relying on the traditional brochure and print-based and DVD advertising. There is clearly a gap to showcase our region and to present what it has to offer to the tourist. This has led us to launch a channel that will take the region into the British living room.  

“If by marketing the region more aggressively and more directly we could attract a greater portion of tourists, imagine the impact on the Southern African region and the potential for job creation,” he says. Southern Africa Direct believes it has found a solution that will have a direct impact on the number of tourists visiting the region - a free to air lifestyle and culture television channel and the world’s first destination TV Channel providing pioneering programming focusing on lifestyle and culture, travel, tourism and commerce from 25 countries in sub equatorial Southern Africa.  

Nicole du Preez