The Online Marketing Strategies of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) and South Africa Tourism (SAT): A Comparative Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the online marketing strategies of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) and South Africa Tourism (SAT). The study sought to establish the online marketing strategies adopted by ZTA and SAT especially coming from the background that most National Tourism Organisations in Africa lack interactive web facilities and have limited knowledge on the significance of information communication technology in tourism marketing. The fact that tourism has been branded the fastest growing industry in the world but in Zimbabwe it’s not like that while just across the Limpopo river in South Africa tourism is steadily developing prompted the researcher to compare the ZTA and SAT online marketing strategies. The objectives were to compare the online marketing strategies and to determine the effectiveness of ZTA and SAT’s online marketing strategies. The researcher adopted comparative design as a way of drawing lessons useful to both ZTA and SAT. Information relevant to this study was drawn from a thorough analysis of the organisations websites, and social media networks. The researcher also reviewed literature in order to expose what other authors say about the online marketing strategies. Data in this study was gathered using netnography. A modified website evaluation model was used to evaluate website as proposed by (Li and Wang 2010). Information dimension, Communication dimension, Transaction dimension, Relationship dimension and Technical merit dimension (ICTRT) were investigated. Information was also obtained by visiting the organisation social networks. The researcher used a qualitative approach to gain an in-depth understanding of why ZTA and SAT chose the various online marketing strategies to market their destinations. Data for this research was then presented using tables from the ICTRT dimensions. From the results it was found that both ZTA and SAT use online marketing strategies but SAT had an improved edge in the social networks since it had more platforms.