WEST AFRICA’S ON LINE TRAVEL MARKET LEADER NOW EYES AFRICAN DESTINATIONS

(Posted 10th December 2015)

Wakanow has staked out their claim for the soul of African tourism and there could have been no better place of declaring its bold initiative for the continent than the gathering of key operators of the industry from across Africa in Lagos for West Africa’s premier tourism trade show. Wakanow hosted a number of delegates to this year’s Akwaaba, African Travel Market, for a dinner in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos.

The night was entertaining, interactive and revealing as Nigeria’s number one online travel booking portal seized the moment to inform on its progress in the industry in the last seven years of its existence and announce its focus for the future; revealing its ambitious plans in the making of ‘Destinations Africa’

The Head of Marketing of the group, Mrs. Victoria Onwubiko, took the audience down the historical lane by disclosing how the company has succeeded in transforming what she described as the fragmented Nigeria travel market into a highly organised and well-coordinated platform that is now the envy of many.

‘Today, Wakanow is number one online travelling booking portal out of Nigeria, providing a one – stop shop for flights and hotel bookings , visa processing, an international travel SIM and a Pay Small Small Scheme. With over 35, 000 visitors to our site everyday and over 300, 000 customers on our data base, we are the melting point of travel in Africa,’ declared Mrs. Onwubiko.

To continue on this path of growth, especially ‘to raise the consciousness of Africans of the great travel destination that Africa could be’ has Wakanow taken a giant leap in creating a TV Lifestyle/Documentary program called ‘Destinations Africa’, spanning the best 21 countries in Africa, which is soon to hit the screen. The show is intended to show the best of Africa to Africans and the world, as has never been done before.

A slick preview of the documentary on Kenya and Mauritius was screened to a captive audience on the night while the managing director of Wakanow, Obinna Ekezie, who on the same night was inaugurated by the team from Kenyan Tourism Board (KTB) as a Maasai Chief, reiterated some of the points highlighted by Mrs. Onwubiko with key emphasis on the Destinations Africa project.

According to him, ‘This is one huge task. We recognise the opportunity to develop Africa as a destination because we know that if Africa is to be developed, someone must take up the challenge which why we are making this huge investment to showcase Africa not just to Africans but also to the world’.

He also spoke of a state of the art booking website which is being developed for this huge project where various segments and packages on the continent will be on display for people to access through smart phones, tablets and laptops. He spoke of building partnerships among all the travel trade operators particularly airlines and governments to achieve this challenging vision by ensuring that travel within the continent is affordable. This he reasoned, is the only way to interest Africans and the rest of the world in the continent.

Mrs. Emma Kosgei Madubuko, a Kenyan musical artiste and tourism cultural ambassador for Kenya, who on the night was fondly called upon to accept the title of the global ambassador for Destinations Africa, alongside Boma dancers from Kenya and Nigerian Yomi Sax, thrilled the audience with their rousing performances.

Said Mrs. Onwubiko in her speech to the invited guest:

Good evening your Excellences, distinguished ladies and gentlemen.

On behalf of the MD of Wakanow, Mr. Obinna Ekezie, his deputy, Mr. Ralph Tamuno and the executive committee, we are delighted to have you here this evening on yet another occasion for us to raise the consciousness among Africans of the great travel destination that Africa could be. It is all about Destinations Africa.

At Wakanow, we pride ourselves in the fact that we don’t wait for innovation to come to us but strive to be at the cutting edge of ourselves.

Our success today as a company is hinged around taking big, bold and hairy steps to transform what we see on ground in our journey and that was exactly what we did to the fragmented travel market in Nigeria, when we met it eight years ago.

Today, Wakanow is number one online travelling booking portal out of Nigeria, providing a one – stop shop for tickets, hotels, visa processing, an international travel SIM, a pay small scheme and in the very near future, on the back of a partnership with visa international, a Wakanow prepaid card that makes for a more cost effective transactions. With over 35, 000 visitors to our site every day and over 300, 000 customers on our data base, we the melting point of travel in Africa.

Destinations Africa is a project where we are, again taking the same big, bold and hairy steps to bridge the gap that we see in African travel. A destinations Africa TV show is one facet of the investment we are making in this area by shooting videos of 21 of the best African destinations, in a way that they have ever been shown before, We will be showing you a sneak preview for Kenya and Mauritius shortly.

As the head of marketing for Wakanow, my key interest is to show you how very beneficial it can be for us to out our collective marketing resources together in the various forms of marketing partnerships to create this awareness. There is an adage that it is more difficult to break a whole broom than the individual sticks and that is how we view this marketing campaign for a change of perception.

There is a lot to look forward to in the future and we are starting it tonight with this dinner. The highlight of the evening is the coronation of Obinna as Kenya Maasai Chief by Kenyan delegation. I am certainly looking forward to it.Please enjoy the night and welcome once again.