Session/Digital Diplomacy and Tourism in Africa

Summary

This webinar focused on digital diplomacy and tourism in Africa, exploring opportunities for growth and collaboration. Experts from various sectors discussed how digital transformation has changed tourism in Africa, highlighting the increased accessibility for both large and small businesses to market their offerings online. The panel emphasized the importance of sustainability in tourism, with initiatives like eco-friendly certifications and carbon footprint tracking gaining prominence.

The discussion touched on the impact of emerging platforms like Airbnb on traditional hospitality, noting that these disruptions have also created opportunities for African startups. The role of citizen journalism in promoting tourism was explored, with panelists suggesting ways to encourage positive content creation about African destinations. Data privacy concerns were addressed, with calls for stronger cybersecurity laws and digital literacy programs to protect cultural assets.

The importance of preparing diplomats to promote tourism was highlighted, emphasizing the need for comprehensive knowledge about their countries’ cultures and attractions. The changing demands of modern tourists, particularly regarding Wi-Fi connectivity and digital amenities, were discussed as crucial factors for attracting visitors. The panel also addressed the challenges of overcoming negative perceptions of some African countries and suggested focusing on regional integration and intra-African tourism to boost visitor numbers.

Overall, the webinar underscored the potential of digital tools and diplomacy in enhancing Africa’s tourism sector, while also highlighting the need for infrastructure development, policy changes, and strategic marketing to fully capitalize on these opportunities.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– The impact of digital transformation on tourism in Africa, including new marketing opportunities and changing tourist behaviors

– Sustainability and responsible tourism practices in the digital age

– Data privacy concerns and protecting cultural resources while still promoting tourism

– The role of digital diplomacy in promoting African tourism

– Infrastructure needs (like Wi-Fi) to support modern tourism demands

Overall purpose:

The goal of this discussion was to explore how digital technologies and diplomacy can be leveraged to unlock new opportunities for tourism growth and collaboration in Africa. The panelists aimed to highlight both challenges and potential solutions for the African tourism sector in the digital era.

Tone:

The overall tone was optimistic and forward-looking. Panelists were enthusiastic about the potential of digital tools to transform African tourism, while also being thoughtful about challenges that need to be addressed. The tone remained consistent throughout, with speakers building on each other’s points in a collaborative manner.

Speakers

– Mwende Njiraini: Moderator/host for Diplo-Africa webinar

– Jovan Kurbalija: Director of Diplo Foundation and Head of Geneva Internet Platform

– Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu: Senior lecturer at Muranga University of Technology, expert in hospitality operations management and tourism

– Katherine Getao: Moderator for the webinar

– Suzan M. Ongalo: Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya Tourism Federation

– Wasiu A. Babalola: Professor of hotel management and tourism, Senior Vice President for Africa at Continentwide Hotels

Additional speakers:

– Roshan Nanayakara: Senior Advisor, M&E, Heritage and Tourism to the Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy of Nigeria (mentioned but did not participate)

Digital Diplomacy and Tourism in Africa: Opportunities for Growth and Collaboration

This webinar, hosted by Diplo-Africa, brought together experts from various sectors to explore the intersection of digital diplomacy and tourism in Africa. The discussion focused on how digital transformation has reshaped the tourism landscape and the potential for leveraging these changes to promote growth and collaboration across the continent.

Digital Transformation in Tourism

A key theme throughout the webinar was the profound impact of digital technologies on the tourism sector in Africa. Jovan Kurbalija, Director of Diplo Foundation, highlighted how digital tools have enabled more effective promotion of destinations. Suzan M. Ongalo, CEO of the Kenya Tourism Federation, noted that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital adoption in tourism, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Professor Wasiu A. Babalola emphasised that digital platforms have created opportunities for small businesses to compete on a global scale, democratising the tourism industry.

The speakers agreed that digital transformation has significantly impacted tourism, creating new opportunities for businesses of all sizes. However, there were slight differences in their approaches. While Ongalo focused on the acceleration due to COVID-19, Babalola highlighted the opportunities created by digital platforms for smaller businesses to compete globally.

Sustainability and Responsible Tourism

Sustainability emerged as a crucial consideration in the context of digital tourism. Ongalo stressed the need for ethical sourcing and sustainability practices, as well as the importance of tracking carbon footprints. She provided concrete examples of sustainability initiatives, such as the “one tourist, one tree” campaign and a recent photography competition that included a sustainability category. This competition showcased innovative ways of repurposing plastic waste into souvenirs, demonstrating creative approaches to sustainability in tourism.

Katherine Getao, one of the moderators, raised the challenge of balancing increased tourism numbers with environmental impact. The speakers agreed on the need for sustainable and responsible tourism practices, including educating tourists on these issues.

Digital Diplomacy and Tourism Promotion

The role of digital diplomacy in promoting African tourism was a significant point of discussion. Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu, a senior lecturer at Muranga University of Technology, emphasised the importance of diplomats acting as brand ambassadors for tourism destinations. Ongalo highlighted the need for collaboration between the tourism sector and foreign affairs departments, as well as equipping diplomats with factual tourism information.

Cheloti-Mapelu stressed the importance of educating diplomats about African cultures to prevent misrepresentation. She emphasised diplomats sharing positive experiences on their digital platforms, while Ongalo focused on providing them with accurate and up-to-date information about destinations.

Emerging Tourism Trends and Infrastructure Needs

The changing demands of modern tourists were highlighted as a crucial factor in shaping the future of African tourism. Babalola noted the increasing demand for Wi-Fi and connectivity, even suggesting that in some cities, tourists prioritise internet availability over security. Ongalo mentioned the rise of digital nomads as a new tourist segment and the need for Wi-Fi in tour vehicles. These observations underscored the need for investment in energy and ICT infrastructure to meet evolving tourist expectations.

Challenges and Opportunities for African Tourism

The webinar addressed several challenges facing African tourism. Cheloti-Mapelu emphasised the need for regional integration in African tourism and the potential for intra-African tourism. She pointed out that keeping borders closed between African countries is hindering the growth of regional tourism, suggesting that making it easier for Africans to travel within the continent could boost visitor numbers to destinations like Mombasa’s beaches.

Cheloti-Mapelu also highlighted challenges such as high costs of air travel and visa restrictions that impede intra-African tourism. Getao raised the issue of addressing negative perceptions of some African destinations, while Cheloti-Mapelu stressed the importance of tourism education and research.

Data Privacy and Cultural Protection

An important point of discussion was the balance between data sharing and protecting cultural resources. Babalola provided a nuanced perspective, noting that while caution is needed when dealing with data, making certain information available has enabled Africans to address misconceptions about themselves. He emphasised the need to strengthen cybersecurity laws to protect cultural resources and the importance of digital literacy. This discussion highlighted the potential for strategic data sharing to combat stereotypes about Africa while also addressing privacy concerns.

Artificial Intelligence in African Tourism

Cheloti-Mapelu addressed the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in tourism, acknowledging that while African countries may be cautious or averse to this technology, its benefits far outweigh the setbacks. She emphasised that AI is a technology that has taken off and is not going back, urging the African tourism sector to appreciate its benefits despite initial hesitations. Cheloti-Mapelu stressed the need for education, sensitization, and policy development regarding AI in tourism.

Babalola suggested using AI for tracking misinformation about destinations, highlighting another potential application of this technology in the tourism sector.

Conclusion and Future Directions

The webinar concluded with several key takeaways and action items. These included the need to educate people on the importance of AI in the tourism sector, develop AI policies and infrastructure for African countries, strengthen cybersecurity laws to protect cultural resources, equip diplomats with factual tourism information, and invest in digital infrastructure like Wi-Fi to meet tourist demands.

Unresolved issues included finding effective ways to balance data privacy concerns with tourism promotion needs, strategies for changing negative perceptions of some African destinations, making intra-African travel more affordable and accessible, and increasing tourism numbers while maintaining environmental sustainability.

The discussion highlighted the potential of digital tools and diplomacy in enhancing Africa’s tourism sector, while also emphasising the need for infrastructure development, policy changes, and strategic marketing to fully capitalise on these opportunities. The overall tone was optimistic and forward-looking, with speakers collaboratively building on each other’s points to provide a comprehensive view of the challenges and opportunities in digital diplomacy and tourism in Africa.

Mwende Njiraini: Good morning, good afternoon and good evening to everyone. I want to welcome you to this first webinar of Diplo-Africa in 2025. We hold quarterly webinars and this is our first in the year and we’re excited to host each one of you, excited that you are here and are interested in the topic. So our topic for today is Digital Diplomacy and Tourism in Africa, Unlocking Opportunities for Growth and Collaboration. So we have a great panel with us and we are going to introduce them after we have, I believe, I hope, Professor, sorry, Dr Jovan is here. Yes, okay. So I will give this opportunity to Jovan to introduce himself and Diplo Foundation to each one of us. Thank you. So welcome, Jovan.

Jovan Kurbalija: Thank you. Thank you, Mwende. Good afternoon to everybody at today’s call. My name is Jovan Kurbali, I’m Director of Diplo Foundation and Head of Geneva Internet Platform and it’s my great honour to address today’s webinar, which is covering one interesting topic. Mwende always comes with some relevant and interesting, not typical topics and this topic is how to link digital AI developments and digital diplomacy in general with development of tourism in Africa. As we know, It’s not about diplomats being tourists. It’s about tourism as an important economic branch in many countries, definitely in some even more, like Kenya, for example, and how to link it to the digital developments and digital diplomacy. Therefore, this interplay has many layers. It has a practical layer of diplomats, let’s say, here in Geneva, using digital tools from African countries, using digital tools to promote their countries in different ways, by creating AI chatbots about tourism in their country, by having some sort of desk offices, promotion online through social media and other campaigns. It is definitely an issue of the digitalization of tourism itself and support for different social media and communication platforms. Therefore, I’m sure that you will have a very interesting and engaging discussion. On this point, I thought of bringing these few aspects that could be relevant for your discussion, and I’m sure the experts, people who are dealing on a day-to-day basis with these issues, will bring another additional layers of meaning and relevance. We at Diplo are trying to find a practical solution for practical problems. There is a lot of hype these days on technology, on AI, but ultimately we have to ask ourselves how this technology can impact our lives, including the economy, including the question of tourism. Therefore, I would like to encourage you to think about practical solutions and the way how we can improve the economy, social well-being of, in this case, the African continent, but also all individuals involved in this process. Therefore, I wish you an insightful and inspiring discussion. during this webinar. Mwende, over to you.

Mwende Njiraini: Thank you so much, Jovan, for that introduction. Indeed, we hope that through this conversation that we’ll have this afternoon, morning or evening, depending on where you are, will be insightful. So I would like to introduce our panelists for today. I’ll just… So I’ll start with Professor. Professor Wasiu Babalola is from Nigeria and he’s a distinguished polymath, renowned for his extensive, expansive expertise in hotel and tourism management, operations management, marketing, forensic accounting, audit, international business law and corporate strategic management. Professor holds dual PhDs in hospitality management and forensic accounting and audit and other qualifications in accounting, law, human resource, hospitality, tourism management, among others, bridging the gap between academia and industry with unparalleled proficiency. So he is a certified accreditor for program and institutional accreditation, as well as a professor of hotel management and tourism. He’s also a trusted member of the National Association of AI Practitioners, that is NAIP, reflecting his deep engagement with the transformative role of technology and innovation in modern industries. In the professional sphere, Professor Babalola is the Senior Vice President for Africa at… Continentwide Hotels, which is a hotel chain that has more than 100 hotels in 13 countries across the four continents. His strategic role includes serving as a director and trustee of the African Travel Commission and formerly a managing director of West Africa at Swiss International Hotels and Resorts, making significant global contributions to the hospitality and tourism industry. So we welcome you, Professor, and thank you for accepting our invitation to come and speak to us. I’m then going to introduce Suzan M. Ongalo. Welcome, Suzan. Federation, public international relations leader and business and customer manager for the training team. She has over management, customer relations, disaster management, marketing and leadership arguments. She was instrumental in setting up the Secretariat Administrative Department of the Kenya Tourism Federation, as well as oversee the operations of the Safety and Communication Centre at the Kenya Tourism Federation. She currently serves as the chief executive officer of the Kenya Tourism Federation since 2015 to date. The KTF is an umbrella body of the private sector in tourism, charged with advocacy for a conducive business environment for the tourism sector. And she carries a wealth of work experience with over 12 years in tourism. Dr Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu, Mwende Njiraini, Katherine Getao, Dr Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu, Dr Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu is a senior lecturer at the school of Hospitality and Tourism in the department of Hospitality, Tourism and Travel Management, Muranga University of Technology Nairobi, Kenya. She is an expert in the area of hospitality operations management, which mainly entails practical training and research in areas of hospitality, sorry, area of hotel and hospitality management. She has a PhD in tourism management. She also trains students in tourism related issues, especially travel and tourism economics, and she has a wealth of experience when it comes to supervising students in areas related to tourism, hospitality and travel. She has been doing this for the last 16 years. Additionally, she has participated in training workshops and seminars that relate to hospitality training, packaging and marketing the North Rift of Kenya, I believe, as a tourist destination and creating demand for tourism and hotel services in the Rift Valley Circuit of Kenya. She has developed nine policy documents within and without the university, including one on Turkana County, that is in Kenya, on feasibility study report of Labokat and Kataboi eco lodges in Turkana County. So we welcome you, Isabella. Thank you for accepting our invitation. So the last person I’m going to introduce. Roshan Nanayakara, Senior Advisor, M&E, Heritage and Tourism to the Honorable Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy of Nigeria Roshan Nanayakara is a young professional with expertise in software development, project management, monitoring and evaluation, policy development and community engagement in private and public sectors as well as the development sectors. He has led projects in DFI, private and public sector funded projects in several sectors with the bulk of his previous experience stemming from his work in agriculture, healthcare and humanitarian sectors. So thank you and welcome Roshan and we look forward to interacting with you during this webinar. So with that I would like to welcome Dr Kate Getao who is our moderator for today’s webinar. Thank you. Welcome Kate.

Katherine Getao: Thank you very much Mwende and good morning, good afternoon, good evening to all our listeners and participants and I’m very excited today to be moderating this extremely distinguished panel that has expertise well-rounded. We have somebody from the Tourism Federation, we have a distinguished hotelier, we have somebody from academia and we also have somebody from the ministry and policy making so I think we’ll have all our questions very well covered. Now I’ll start with you Suzan if you don’t mind me using first names. How has digital transformation changed how tourists discover, book, experience, travel in Africa and are African destinations taking full advantage of digital marketing?

Suzan M. Ongalo: Thank you Kate. I hope I’m loud and clear. Yes, we can hear you. Good. It’s interesting that you are discussing this topic because we were led to this digital space by the COVID-19 and I would say from the time that we could not do impersonal physical interaction with the tourist, then the digital space became the next instant mode of communication. So when you ask how it has actually driven the tourist into the destination, and I’ll use Kenya because this is where I am, we have seen people becoming very creative and putting information on the digital space so that the tourists can interact with these places, maybe by visuals, putting videos and maybe putting this one you put on your face so that you can experience the product while you’re away, but you can feel almost touched. We used to watch the movies with it at the movies, so that space has really enabled even the small medium enterprise tourism practitioner and travels and hospitality practitioners to bring their product to the market because initially before the digital space it used to be traveling all the way to a certain destination so that people can participate in exhibitions, in all the other shows that could be there, networking, but this space, the digital space, has really seen a game-changer in how destinations can attract across the continent to really We have had the tourists, the intending tourists, actually be able to appreciate and even have a variety to choose from because it is not only what we can photoshop, but this is a real destination that has been put on the site, and the tourists can have a watch a video and compare to another place. And maybe even discover more places that were not available in the past. So yes, the digital opportunities in tourism have seen us recover even faster from the COVID-19 and now the businesses are thriving and it’s across the board as I said from the operators that are seasoned and SMEs and the micro practitioners. So thank you Kate for that.

Katherine Getao: Thank you. Okay, thank you very much, Suzan. Certainly, an excellent message of hope, where not only the big players but the small players are able to find their space in the digital world. And that leads me straight into my question for Professor Babalola. You run a traditional hotel chain, I’m sure a luxury hotel chain. How have you been impacted by the emerging platforms of course we all know, Airbnb, hotel.com, booking.com, and many other low, those are the international ones. Here in Kenya, we have Jumia and several others, where many people are now leasing their homes or little apartments to tourists directly. How has this impacted? Is it a good thing, or is it something where the traditional hoteliers have to maybe

Wasiu A. Babalola: Thank you so much, Katherine, and good afternoon, everyone. Greetings from Nigeria. One thing about digital technology, it’s often a disruption, and depending on how you approach it, you may use it to your advantage, or it takes you off market. But if we look at what has happened from the western part of Africa, with the advent of other players like Airbnb, Booking.com, into the market, you will realize that one, even though some think it’s a disruption to the normal business, it also creates a venue for the traditional ways for them to see opportunity to sell on a larger scale, like a smaller hotel in a remote area for your town. Southwest Nigeria now has opportunity to put himself on the same platform where the bigger boys are now doing business. So it is not necessarily a disruption, but it’s also open up the market. Also, if you look at other things it has done, it has also enabled African startups to be able to leverage on digital world, to be able to bring out other competing disruptions, like we have Jumia.com, which is competing now with the likes of Booking.com, Expedia, gathering up markets, businesses within the local market. Now, also, considering the population where we find ourselves, and considering the demographic of the African population, the youthful population that are used to their phones, they are used to the digital hub, you know, the allies, these things are now becoming part of our livelihood. So for any business to survive, you have to make a conscious effort to also participate in this digital space. So to us, Airbnb, Booking.com, the likes of Expedia with their and numerous applications into the market has not only be a disruption to us in Africa, it has also given us opportunity for startups in digital businesses to come up. Now we have Jumia, not only in Nigeria, there is Jumia in Kenya, there is Jumia in Ghana, there is Jumia in other countries. And this is making Africa coming to see themselves that they too can play this game and they can do it to the benefits of the businesses. So I say, thank you for that. Thank you.

Katherine Getao: Thank you very much, Professor Babalola for that message of hope. And that really leads me very naturally into the question that I have for Dr Isabella Cheloti. And that is that as Professor Babalola has pointed out, I think one new market that this technology has opened up is the youth. I know many young people who previously perhaps could not have afforded to go to traditional hotels, they are able to find something affordable using these other platforms. I also noticed that there’s a lot of citizen journalism taking place, meaning that people and many Africans, in fact, travel to each other’s countries and then they make travel logs where they have videos which they post on all the platforms, the TikToks, the YouTubes, the Instagrams. They post content there about where they’ve been and the experience that they have. And many, many, many people are first introduced to destinations using these kinds of platforms. How do you see online citizen journalism being? are forced for good? Is it part of your curriculum as you teach? And how can you encourage your students to present a positive picture of their country? We’ve seen them doing the opposite. What do you feel is some of the strategies we could approach to create a new generation of citizen journalists who can really promote their countries and their tourist destinations? Go ahead, Isabella.

Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu: Okay, thank you very much, Dr. Kete, for that insightful observation. We’ve seen generally young people, they have really picked up what we are calling a digital technologies that is using a digital prowess to generally communicate with each other. And Kenya recently saw a very powerful, how can I say, a powerful generation that came out to really speak to serious issues affecting the country. But my also take is that we can continue to harness these digital technologies in order to encourage them to actually post positive things about what is going on in the country, positive products. We’ve seen an uprising of things we call content creation. And apart from the daily comedy and generally things that affect youth, once in a while you find them talking about the exciting places they have visited. Dr Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu, Mwende Njiraini, Katherine Getao Dr Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu, Mwende Njiraini, Katherine Getao Dr Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu, Mwende Njiraini, Katherine Getao Dr Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu, Mwende Njiraini, Katherine Getao Dr Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu, Mwende Njiraini, Katherine Getao Dr Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu, Mwende Njiraini, Katherine Getao Dr Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu, Mwende Njiraini, Katherine Getao Dr Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu, Mwende Njiraini, Katherine Getao Dr Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu, Mwende Njiraini, Katherine Getao Dr Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu, Mwende Njiraini, Katherine Getao , and the other one is tourism. We have done research. There is so much potential. From the Asian markets. Who really value things like culture. We find that with that, if we encourage, give out positive stories about our culture, this form of tourism can eventually be encouraged. And my last point is that when it comes to journalism, sometimes it is very hard to control what people are going to post, especially in the digital space. But when we continually train them, show them new products, new perspectives, show them generally what is beautiful about Kenya. People who want to see things like bad life, for instance. People who want to see things like bad life, which is quite an interesting product. People who want to visit what we call pristine destinations. Places which are rarely visited, but they are very beautiful. Things like landscape, for instance. That will make the destination as Kenya to be seen in positive lenses. And therefore promote the growth of tourism. Thank you very much.

Katherine Getao: Thank you very much Isabella for that. We look forward to this new generation of young Kenyans and young Nigerians, who will show the reality of this continent and take away our focus from maybe just wildlife and a few issues to the richness of the culture and the culture of the people. and the facilities that we have on this continent. Thank you very much for that. I turn once again to Suzan. And we have, as well as having new tourism, we have a new tourist. And they’re concerned about emerging issues like environmental sustainability and ethical sourcing of goods and services and so on. How are the tourism sector thinking about using the technology to convince this new tourism market that we are doing things properly? I was surprised to hear on a show a few weeks ago that Thailand receives, I think, around 140 million visitors a year as opposed to Kenya’s 3 million. And the president there was talking about sustainability because if you have that many people visiting your country, the use of water, the littering and rubbish and all that becomes a major issue. So what are we doing to make sure that we are sustainable and also that we tell others that we are sustainable so that they can make good decisions about visiting us? Suzan, please go ahead.

Suzan M. Ongalo: Thank you very much, Dr. Catherine. Okay. Interesting question because as you said, sometimes is it more about the numbers of tourists going to a particular destination or is it about quality tourists going to a particular destination? And I will… speak straight into sustainability. Under Kenya Tourism Federation we have an association that is called Eco Tourism Kenya and Eco Tourism Kenya under Kenya Tourism Federation is the one that has let’s say standards of how tourism travel and hospitality businesses should operate and within those standards then they hold, they give awards or they award those that have gone into the area of sustainability and they have to prove what they are doing in the area of sustainability. An airline for example, they are operating in Kenya, they are flying to Maasai Mara, to Diani, to all those places in Kenya but what are they doing? So for instance is to track what are the carbon footprints that are being emitted and what even the ethical measures of putting up an eco camp or putting up a hotel, a restaurant, so all those things add up to responsible tourism. Recently, as recent as 2024, under the UNEP and Kenya Tourism Federation we came up with guidelines for sustainability in tourism not only for Kenya but for the East Africa region and we are also encouraging it’s not, you know, when things are put as a punishment or a must then there are issues because then people shall rebel but when it is put and encouragement is given that if you need to be on this platform, for example, if you need to be on Kenya Tourism If you want to use the Tourism Federation website as an eco-friendly or sustainable destination or product, or Ecotourism Kenya, or Kenya Tourism Board, which is the marketing arm of the country for tourism, then you have to meet these guidelines. So with that, we think that we will encourage them. And when we come to carbon footprint tracking, we are encouraging them to at least develop a credible platform that can help tourists to track on their website, on their marketing material, and what they are putting online. For example, I know a number of tour operators in the National Parks Game Reserves have already put that they are using the electric vehicles to do game drives. So that then will encourage the tourists when they are looking for a sustainable or eco-friendly destination or eco-friendly product, then they’ll be able to actually see for themselves digitally or online on websites on the materials that have been put there, how a destination or a product is putting the practices or is doing sustainable tourism. And that then drives the traffic towards that destination. And I’ll pick Masai Mara, for example. Recently, they increased the park fee. That’s why I started by asking, is it about the number or is it about the quality? And having done that, in my view, then it will be a bit limiting. And even they changed the hours of touring. It used to be a 24-hour ticket, but now it’s a 12-hour ticket. How sustainable is the beach in Kenya? As somebody said previously, my fellow panelists, that it is good to look at what are other products that we have because maybe even over-tourism at the beach is not good for the marine life. So such things like that. And when I speak into ethical sourcing platforms, that is creating platforms that are highly ethically sourced and the souvenirs, the materials that are being used to produce those souvenirs, are they really ethically sourced or are they there to just sell? And recently we had a photography competition and there was a category for sustainability. I was one of the judges for that photography. And we had a sustainable category that really showed that the plastic that was being burned or the plastic that we still use, it should not be used as single-use plastic. And there were entries that showed marvelous things that have been made, even souvenirs out of plastic. And that way we were able to see that actually sustainable tourism is the way to go. And that is what we are preaching and that is what we are awarding from the eco-tourism platform that I mentioned earlier. We also look at how are these establishments, especially managing their waste, like Nairobi National Park, where I am because my office is at the Kenya Wildlife Service headquarters, there is no entering the gate for Game Drive with plastic bottles. Such efforts are the ones that will bring that tourist who is sustainable-centric or accessibility-centric to visit. And as I conclude, it’s also, we are doing digital education and awareness for tour drivers, for hoteliers, even the hotel when they are packing the breakfast or the sundowner drinks for the tourists to go and enjoy what materials are they using, what products are they using to package that. And we are encouraging tourists to also give back to the communities that are experiencing this. And before I depart, in Kenya, as you may know, there is a plant, we have quite a number of trees to be planted, I don’t know the figure total, 50 million or something. But there’s also that campaign, one tourist, one tree, it might not be the tourist who’s planting that tree, but it could be the tour operator that is having the tourists when they go to a certain destination, the tour operator then facilitates for a tree to be planted for each tourist. Thank you for that question.

Katherine Getao: Thank you very much, Suzan. I can see you’re very, very passionate about that issue of sustainability, as we should all be. I’m glad to tell you that I do recycle my plastics, and I’m a great supporter of all efforts to keep our environment clean and healthy. I’ll move on to another issue, which is maybe raising concern or eyebrows in the tourism sector. So, Professor Babalola, there’s a lot of, there’s competing needs, the need to register tourists and even to track them because of security reasons and other reasons, competing with an increasing amount of legislation around the globe about data privacy, the most well-known being the General Data Protection Regulation. from the European Union. Are African tourism stakeholders at risk of legal challenges when collecting and using visitor data and what best practices do you follow in your own environment and which perhaps could become a best practice elsewhere? Professor Babalola, did you hear my question? Okay, we seem to have lost the professor. So maybe as I’m waiting to find out where he is, I can move on to Isabella, who I believe is still with us. AI is really transforming tourism. Often, recently, I used one of the platforms and when I had to inquire about an issue, I was quickly directed to a chatbot. I don’t want to tell you what my experience was, but I can tell you it was not completely satisfactory. But people are also using artificial intelligence for planning their trips, for visa processing, and many other issues. Now, how can Africa stay ahead? For many countries, maybe we have limited capacity in this area. And what are you doing, maybe at the university level, and should we prioritize African interaction, I mean human interaction, because we have so many young people, many of them are looking for job opportunities. Could we even make that a differentiator to people who are just used to having to deal with chatbots and so on? Sometimes hearing a human voice on the other end is really refreshing. So what do you think? Maybe tell us a little bit about your own thoughts in this area.

Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu: Good afternoon. Good evening. Thank you very much for that question, Dr. Ket. When it comes to AI, it is something that has really taken the world by a serious storm, as we’ve been looking at what is happening all over the world. We’ve seen countries, especially in the Middle East, even putting up whole ministries on what we call AI. We’ve seen Western countries really going big on AI. And the only thing I can start by saying is that this is the kind of technology we may be cautious, a bit averse to it, but it is technology that has taken off and it’s not going back. And much as Africa and maybe Kenya, and even the tourism sector in our country, we can say maybe we are still lagging behind when it comes to appreciating the benefits of AI, but the benefits far much outweigh what we call the setbacks. It’s just like even when we started with computers, some people were really terrified. What are computers going to do? Are they going to take our jobs? So my take is that AI is here to stay, and the tourism industry has a lot to benefit, as you talked about chatbots. Remember, we are talking about websites where somebody wants to make a booking, for instance, an airline, wants to book an airline. They want to find out certain information. You look at a website, they are showing maybe the different types of attraction. We want these websites to be interactive, okay? And therefore, AI comes into help because human interaction, sometimes you’ll never be there 24-7. And even it’s expensive to keep humans manning some of these websites. But when we have chatbots, they make this very easy. It also answers some of these questions, like a few clarifications when… Sorry, my video stopped. I hope you’re hearing me.

Katherine Getao: Yes, we can hear you.

Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu: Okay, thank you. So when somebody wants a simple clarification, then things like chatbots, which are AI-based, then they become very critical. But on the other hand, I would like to say that as countries, we may not have invested a lot in AI, maybe we are still lagging behind. Just like when the digital age came in, we still lag behind. So my take is that we need to, Africa needs to jump on this bandwagon so that they are not left behind, because we have a lot to benefit from AI. Remember AI, we can use it for doing so many things, even in our businesses. When it comes to strategic partnerships, AI is very critical. When it comes to marketing, relationship marketing, AI is still critical. So my take is that we still have a long way to go, like putting up infrastructure. Even coming up with an AI policy as a country, we still need to really put in a lot to come up with AI policy. People even need to be sensitized on what is this AI about, because even sensitization alone is still quite inadequate. And then we generally need to put in a lot so that we make it work for us, especially in the tourism sector, because it’s something we badly need and we continually need to work on it. When it comes to university, there are tidbits of research going on. But as I said, because of lack of enough sensitization, people continually have misconceptions about what AI is and what it can and what it cannot do. And then even to the risk of actually coming up with ideas that it may not even be useful for us after all, conveniently so. So I think a perception out there is that we continually need to educate, to sensitize people, and even to tell them the importance of AI when it comes to tourism sector. When you talk about virtual reality or augmented reality, AI is very critical. And therefore, I think my take is a lot more needs to be done so that we actually jump on that bandwagon. and Wagon, where the rest of the world is actually getting benefits from AI in their enterprises. Thank you very much.

Katherine Getao: Thank you very much, Isabella, for that insight. Professor Babatola, I’m very, very happy that you’re back with us. I did have a question for you, but before I turn to that question, I know there are questions in the chat. Those who’ve placed their questions in the chat, I’m just very shortly after Professor Babatola answers this question, I will give a round of questions drawn from the chat. So please, all my panelists, please, you can be looking to see if there’s something there that you can contribute to. There’s also a Mr. Mohamed who has asked several times about Diplo courses. So Mwende, you could also be preparing just to briefly answer Mr. Mohamed’s question about Diplo courseware. So Professor Babatola, I had asked a question which I think you didn’t catch, which was about the phrase that Suzan Ongalo used, which was responsible tourism. And one of the areas of concern is the area of data privacy. During the course of tourism, there is data that is collected from tourists, by hotels, by visa authorities and so on. But at the same time, the tourists themselves do photograph people, dancers and other cultural actors. They do collect things from the country and collect information, which sometimes they post. Do you think that in Africa, we’re doing enough to both comply with emerging data protection policies? regimes globally? And are we doing enough to also protect our own citizens from the type of data which can be collected by visitors to our country, perhaps without recourse to really formally informing the subjects and getting their consent? Please give us a little insight into this area, Professor Babalola.

Wasiu A. Babalola: Yeah, thank you so much, Dr Katrin, for the question. Thank you so much, Dr Katrin, for the question. Data is something that is very interesting, and one needs to be very careful when dealing with data. With digital technology, we realize that tourists, visitors have access to all these data, and they are readily available. Now, despite the fact that we need to strike a balance, now let’s look at the positive side of making this data available. Now, as Africans, what has this done for us? One thing is certain, that making this data available has enabled us to address some misconceptions about ourselves as Africans by those who have data to share on the spot. A situation whereby our data has been at least misrepresented by the third world, and it is when these visitors come around and share this data, it comes with some certain level of authentication of what we actually represent. This just, by the way, I was once asked at an international gathering that there is a crisis in Nigeria, and I said, well, I just traveled down from Nigeria, I said, look, but there is Boko Haram, and I said, do you know, yes, I travel from Lagos, but Boko Haram, if I had to fly to where we have this crisis, I’m going to be on here for like two and a half hours, and it would take me just an hour to travel from London to maybe any part of Europe, maybe to Paris Stuttgart. So are you saying if there is an issue in Paris, we’re going to shut down? So these are information that are readily available, where we allow visitor stories to access our data and use. But we also need to create a balance between accessibility and having the access, the usage of that data within the ambito. And I think that’s where Africa.

Katherine Getao: Sorry, we’ve lost you, Professor. Professor, maybe you can stop your video, so that hopefully at least we can get your audio. Okay, so we’ve lost Professor again, maybe there was a poor connection. So I’d like to turn to the chat right now. And as we’re waiting for Professor to come back, Mwende, could you? Yes, I can see you’ve answered the question. Yes, go ahead, Professor, go ahead. Please go ahead, Professor. Hello? Hello? Yes, we can hear you. I think there’s a challenge with the connection. So as we wait for Professor to come back, I can see that Mokta’s question has been answered. But there are a number of other questions. There’s somebody who has posted their page. So those who are interested in agritourism and so on can certainly follow that link. So there’s a question here which comes from Sarah. I’m sorry, I don’t know how to pronounce your second name. Where she says that she understands that some of the pictures taken by international tourists are taken to the first world and they monetize. Is that okay? Or do we need to protect our natural resources and monetize them ourselves? I’ll throw that to Suzan. And Suzan, we will concede if Professor is able to get back because we’ve been a little unfair to him. But for now, could you please address Sarah’s question?

Suzan M. Ongalo: Thank you, Sarah. Thank you, Katherine. For the sake of my pronouncing on it, could you read her question again?

Katherine Getao: She was asking about the pictures. And I think the other things that tourists do, I’ve seen them by cultural artifacts. And then they go back and they monetize. I’ve even seen a very popular board game called Jijenga. So the words they learn, the cultural resources are monetized. So she’s asking, do we need to protect our natural resources and monetize them ourselves?

Suzan M. Ongalo: Thank you for that question. I think, to be honest, there must be a license, permission to use somebody’s picture or somebody’s video that you’ve taken of them, maybe performing culturally. So I do not think it’s ethical just to take someone’s photo without their consent, and maybe we should introduce, now that we’re in the age of digital, maybe we should introduce, and it may be an opportunity as well, as it’s a threat already, that each place they go, especially culturally, to get entertained or to visit, you know, sometimes it’s philanthropy tourism that takes place, and you find maybe a certain tourist, a philanthropist tourist will go, let’s take, for instance, maybe Samburu, and the situation they are going to address or the place they are going to visit is a situation that should not be broadcasted, otherwise it will not dignify the people that were visited. Yes, it’s done for a good cause, but is it ethical to take, and I’ve seen even instances where people use such photos to even attract funding, not for the people they look for that money for, but for themselves. It is not ethical, I do not think it is, and I would advocate that measures are taken, and maybe prior permissions are sought, and this can be done digitally, that the community is also made aware that if this happens, they should ask, so where are you going to use my photo, where are you going to put my video, and am I agreeing, if it’s a minor, then there should be an adult consent on behalf of the community. and the other minor and if it is an adult then there should be consent and prior permission given. It is an opportunity as I said that probably we should take it up and desensitize both the tourists and the community where they will be touring. So that is how I would choose to address this one for now. Thank you.

Katherine Getao: Okay thank you. Professor I can see that you’re back and perhaps you could just complete what you wanted to say about data and thank you for focusing on the opportunity of defeating many misconceptions about Africa but at the same time protecting which we’ve continued to talk about as Suzan has given her views. And I think this is an opportunity also for technology because we can automate the discovery of these resources now that AI can interpret images so we don’t have to wait for somebody to discover it. The technology can discover these images and perhaps even have automated remedies for this purloining of cultural artifacts without seeking proper permission. Please go ahead Professor Babalola. I hope this time will benefit from your wisdom.

Wasiu A. Babalola: Thank you so much. My sincere apologies for the breaking in communication due to data issues. Now what I’m trying to point, I’ve looked at the positive side but I’m trying to also comment on what is required so that we don’t experience or we don’t allow the use of digital communication to exceed the benefit to us. And in doing that we need to who consciously and intentionally engage government in ensuring we strengthen our cyber security laws. And in doing this, Africa, we are endowed with a lot of cultures and to make those cultures unique and original, there is need for some levels of protection irrespective of digital exposure. And how do we do this? When tourists visit this destination, there should be laws that regulate at what point can you go in with your cameras? Because our cultures, Africa is so blessed and we have so many cultures. I know some events, some cultural events in Nigeria that comes with a COVID, you cannot attend this event with a camera. If you must come with your camera, with your phone, you will be charged extra for you to get access to be able to use these pictures. Also, we expect that NGOs, government, platform like this, we need to carry out digital literacy information to the entire African continent for them to understand the value of their keeping their information, the value of seeking consent before you use people’s information, it is very key. And also, we also need to move into AI. AI can enable us to identify, at least track misinformation when it comes to use of digital information by visitors or by our tourists. But as far as I’m concerned, I think the advantages of allowing visitors or tourists to have access to our digital information as per our destinations are to weigh the negativity. And those negative aspects, we expect the government to step in, let us have cyber laws, let us have data and this restriction laws so that we can preserve and protect. who takes our culture, while we still use it in a showing we create the necessary diplomacy among Africa and the entire world. Thank you so much.

Katherine Getao: Thank you, Professor Babalola. And we thank God that we heard you so clearly this time. And thank you very much for that contribution, which creates an excellent segue into the next topic, which is also drawn from the charts, but it’s an area of great interest to Diplo and to me. And that is the area of cyber diplomacy. What role do diplomats have in all this? We’ve talked about tourism, we’ve talked about technology, and we know that there’s some global policymaking taking place on the diplomatic front at the UN. There’s the digital compact, there’s the cyber security convention, there’s the open-ended working group on cyber security and other issues all going on. Now it happens that African countries sometimes don’t have a lot of resources to spend, to send experts to attend all these international forums. So our representative is often the diplomat from our mission. I’ll ask all of you, beginning with Isabella, what can digital diplomats do to promote tourism, to protect African issues like the one we just discussed on data on the international front? And how should they be prepared? What kind of education and training should they be getting so that even if they are just the last stop, the expert cannot come, but the mission diplomat is there to represent us as Africans? What should we be doing to prepare them and to equip them and to empower them? So I’ll start with Isabella and then go on to Suzan and then to Professor. Isabella, go ahead.

Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu: Okay, thank you very much, Doug, for that question. What I can say is that when it comes to diplomats, Diploma, Diplomacy or Diplomats, I think the first assignment is generally to teach them about our culture, because you know sometimes our culture and even about our ways of life, sometimes even about our beliefs, because you know when they have knowledge about what our cultures are all about, then they’ll not misrepresent sometimes some of our cultures. And then after they have learned about our cultures, then we also show them the positives about our cultures, because they become now the brand ambassadors of our tourism destinations. And even when tourists, diplomats come, they move around our countries to different places. That positive image, like when you talk about using their digital platforms, that snaps that they take maybe in the depths of Maasai Mara is worth a thousand words of what maybe Magical Kenya is going to use to try and market the country. For instance, somebody in the depths of, let’s say, in the depths of Australia, who does not know about Kenya, but sees their diplomat in the depths of Maasai Mara enjoying a gig with Maasai warriors, that gives a positive image and therefore encourages Australian citizens to go and visit Kenya and find out what is it about Kenya. When we find a diplomat going to somewhere like Trinidad. and Trukana, the beaches of Christean sand in Lake Trukana, for instance, that gives a positive image. So the first thing is education, and then we encourage them to communicate positive aspects of the country where they are, at working, back home. And that becomes generally a positive thing for, as a diplomat. And even the digital platforms, remember like also when you talk about digital diplomacy. Nowadays, there’s nobody without a social media handle, Twitter, Facebook, when you talk about Instagram, when they talk about positive things that are happening in those countries. Post those images, those becomes what we call, I think, digital.

Katherine Getao: Sorry, Isabella, we’ve lost you for a moment. So as she logs back on, perhaps we can turn to Suzan. And Suzan, is there any contact between the Tourism Federation, for example, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in promoting the issues which are important to the tourism sector on the diplomatic stage, regionally and internationally? Maybe give us some insights. And what are the key things that you would like a digital diplomat to know, in order to support your sector?

Suzan M. Ongalo: Thank you very much, Katherine Getaogui for that. On the tourism space is an interesting one because not only the private sector through Kenya Tourism Federation interacts but we interface with Kenya Tourism Board, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, immigration is another interesting one, and the airports, the entry points into the country. So, with the digital diplomats, and we can even start that from the entry points into the foreign affairs, and also the tourism board because of the marketing. It is important to work together. For example, I’ll pick a situation where we had a roadshow, a tourism roadshow in Ghana, and the person on ground who was assisting us was the diplomat. And we worked together, and we were able to market and disseminate information for Kenya, Kenya’s information into the Ghana space where there were plenty of attendants who are government, private sector, trade players, potential tourists into Kenya. And what we discovered is that the digital diplomats or the diplomats, not only from the foreign affairs, but when they are going out, it will be a very good idea and I saw it recently, where there was a meeting between the tourism board and the diplomats that were leaving so that we send them with factual information, correct information of the destination magical Kenya. And also to keep feeding them into. Thank you so much for joining us for this evening’s discussion on the new trends and especially on the digital platform it’s an opportunity that should be explored where the packages or the new products or emerging trends can be shared but specifically to the diplomats and also information on arrival at JKI and even what we were discussing earlier on protection it is important to have booklets and information at the information desks which have been set up especially JKI that one I’m aware of such points are where the tourists can pick up this information as well as the diplomats can have them in wherever they are representing Kenya, so that we can prepare them in that way, equip them with material and also empower them to speak for tourism because tourism cuts across the sectors, because without the media then tourism will not be sent out there, without the diplomats and tourism will not be sent out there, without even the agriculture and somebody has put up there that agriculture is a catalyst for tourism, so tourism cuts across, it’s not only for the Ministry of Tourism or Foreign Affairs or KTF but it’s for everyone, even the workers, the people that work at the airport or entry points, the tour operators, so it’s a collective place that I would insist again that information is put together and information should be the same or should be factual, not having others with certain information and others with different information that that will bring up conflicts in the future. and even do a background check to know who is this person that is coming or inquiring about a visa into our destination. Thank you for that.

Katherine Getao: Thank you, Suzan. My phone was not responding. So I’ll move quickly to Professor Babalola because there was a question there about emerging needs. And I’m sure as a hotelier, you’re very aware of this. Nowadays, I think even here in Kenya, even in very simple hotels, the first question the visitor asks is, do you have Wi-Fi? And they also want to know how many sockets are there in my room because I have a lot of devices to charge. So maybe in the past, the sockets in the room were only for the table lamp and the television. But now the client themselves want several at hand. And this is also increasing the energy demands of our country and the demand for quality infrastructure and quality connectivity. How are you influencing governments to invest in these kind of facilities, in energy, in telecommunications and ICT infrastructure in order to give the tourists a better experience in your hotels and around the country?

Wasiu A. Babalola: Thank you so much, Dr. Catefin. I must let you understand that I have been involved in and Mwende Njiraini. I have been managing hotels across Africa for over 10 years. I have had operations apart from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Kenya at a time. You understand that managing hotels in Africa is a function of where you find yourself. I’ve seen in Accra, for example, energy costs for a good hotel is between 5% to 7%. I’ve had to intervene in the sacking of a manager because the guy had to exceed about 6% for like three consecutive months, which was found to be excessive. But compared to Nigeria, where energy costs for most hotels, if you’re doing so well, maybe you’ll be getting about 20%, 25% of your income spent on energy. So you can see it’s different areas, different demographics. And like researches that are being done now for some countries, for example, in cities like Lagos, Abuja, the customers are saying we’re giving availability of internet as priority ahead of security. You’d be wondering, everybody wants to be secure. But the customers have realized that having internet facility is even more security than you being incommunicado. So to most hotels that are coming up Okay.

Katherine Getao: We’ve lost you again, Professor. Although you are raising a very, very important point about the changing demands of clients on the African continent.

Suzan M. Ongalo: Because the changing demands now are that even the tour operator vans or vehicles, the tourists are expecting to have Wi-Fi. And considering that that tour van or tour land cruiser will pass through various, probably counties, for instance, in Kenya and into their final destination. And the bandwidth changes from one country to another. So that is also a demand that is becoming a reality. And because they want to send whatever they are experiencing, they want to share their experiences in real time. And it is good for the destination that, you know, if one sees somebody else, like if I see my friend experiencing their holiday and it’s fun, it will immediately elicit interest. So that is another way of increasing interest of experiences or for experiences into the magical Kenya. So that is one of the trends that we’ve seen. You’re right. Even the children now are going to a restaurant like mine, for example, we get to a restaurant or before we go to a holiday destination, the last man is their Wi-Fi in that place. So it’s not only that. and other international tourists, but even the domestic tourist is becoming more and more reliable on Wi-Fi and connectivity. Also on the same note is the new tourist that even the President himself spoke about. It is the digital nomad. The digital nomad will be attracted to a destination because of good connectivity, fast Wi-Fi, and probably even the phones. How easily can they access their local SIM cards? Because I happened to have tourists around last week and when they arrived one of them in the group bought a lock online and it is for the reason of wherever they are, there were three or so, wherever they are they will rely on the hotspot from this number that they bought and they put the data, airtime, but not mainly for the calls but for the hotspot for the Wi-Fi. So Wi-Fi is number one on people’s wish list on the trends nowadays. Thank you.

Katherine Getao: Yes and of course nowadays people don’t wait until the holiday is over to post their photographs and videos. They are almost live streaming their experiences to their friends and families back home. So that’s why they want to be connected even when they’re in a very remote area in a land cruiser on a rough road. They’re still expecting which requires a lot of investment from our private sector and also our governments to ensure that all these places are provided with connectivity. Now I’ve not been able to see Professor back with us. So maybe since we’re drawing to the close, I’ll ask you Isabella just to give us some insights into the state of tourism education today. Is it one of the popular subjects or is it one where people perhaps don’t have the same amount of interest in entering a very service-oriented kind of career? And what about new destinations? I can see there’s a gentleman who had said something about Somalia and indeed that’s a follow-up question which I was going to ask, which is that when they say you give somebody a bad name, it’s very difficult for them to recover, even when things have changed a lot. So what can we do as Africa to redeem our bad name and to become, because we have so much, all these countries, Somalia, Djibouti, even the northern countries of Africa, South Africa, Lesotho, diverse culture, great natural beauty, wonderful people, but somehow still not very much on the radar as countries that everyone wants to visit. So what can we do to use this technology to change the image that has been created in the media and which is hard to redeem even when a situation has changed? A few insights, Isabella.

Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu: Okay, thank you very much. I hope you can hear me now.

Katherine Getao: Yes, please.

Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu: I will start with the first question about training in tourism. Of course at the moment parents are still expecting students to take the traditional courses, that is the engineering, the medicine and so on, but tourism as a discipline generally it is gaining a lot of traction and we find young people who are enthusiastic to actually take tourism studies as an area of study. When it comes to postgraduate students we have seen a lot of headways being led even into research, a lot of recommendations especially as relates to coming up with new tourism products for Kenya and even for Africa to avoid the traditional tourism products and that is generally something that is recommendable, but we are still falling short of the number of visitors to African countries. Let me take an example like Kenya, we are still struggling to keep the three million visitors and the reason we are struggling is because as Africa we have not thought about what we call regional integration. When you compare a place like Europe, when you look at Europe as a continent those countries, the borders are almost knocked off. You find when you talk about the Shenzhen visa for instance, you can visit any of those countries without a visa. So our biggest undoing as Africa is keeping some of these borders and then not opening up to fellow Africans to enjoy the products that we have. For instance, if we talk about our beaches in Mombasa, We should make it easy for people to travel from somewhere like Kigali, Rwanda, Uganda, to come and have a holiday in Mombasa, for instance, and enjoy our beaches. There’s no reason why Kenya should not travel and go to Uganda and go and visit those mountain gorillas, for instance. And the reason is because we continually use the traditional methods of marketing our tourism to international travelers, that is Europe and America and Asia, for instance. What about to our fellow Africans? How can we improve infrastructure, connectivity, or something like rail? This is something which seems perfect. But why should we do make it possible for us to travel from here to South Africa by train, for instance? Why should we maintain very expensive air travel from one country to another, simply because of things like taxes? If you want to go to Uganda, how much do you pay an air ticket? Yet the distance is the same by flight from Nairobi to Mombasa. The distance is the same travel time is the same way you travel from here to Uganda, for instance. But what about when you look at the amount of money you have to pay a ticket? So my continued observation is that we can improve our tourism, by first making it attractive within the region, within Africa, which is a very big continent right now, with a lot of potential, a lot of resources, a lot of attractions. And then now we can start actually looking at the international. That’s the only way we can start hitting 10 million, 15 million travelers, maybe, by year. So I think another thing is about the image. Yes, are you hearing me?

Katherine Getao: I know Roshan was not able to join us, but we hope we will see him in the future. I believe everyone has enjoyed this panel, and there’s a lot of very good information that has been shared. And as Mwende has shared in the group, there is a recording, I believe, which is normally posted on the Africa page of the BIPLO Foundation website. And I think she has put a link. So Mwende, I’ll hand over to you. And thank you, everyone, for staying with us until this moment. Thank you so much.

Mwende Njiraini: Thank you so much, Dr. Gitao, for moderating. Thank you to the panelists who have given of their time to be with us this afternoon or evening or morning, and we thank you so much for all the participants who have been with us since the beginning. We thank you for giving us your time. We invite you to log in and just to view the courses that we have. So with that, I want to thank you all and just note that the recording will be shared with you as long as you are a registered participant, and we look forward to continued interaction with yourselves. So thank you so much and have a lovely afternoon, evening and morning. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Agreement points

Digital transformation has significantly impacted tourism

Speakers

– Jovan Kurbalija
– Suzan M. Ongalo
– Wasiu A. Babalola

Arguments

Digital tools enable promotion of destinations

COVID-19 accelerated digital adoption in tourism

Digital platforms create opportunities for small businesses

Summary

The speakers agree that digital technologies have transformed how tourism is promoted, experienced, and conducted, creating new opportunities for businesses of all sizes.

Importance of sustainability in tourism

Speakers

– Suzan M. Ongalo
– Katherine Getao

Arguments

Need for ethical sourcing and sustainability practices

Importance of tracking carbon footprints

Balancing tourism numbers with environmental impact

Summary

There is consensus on the need for sustainable and responsible tourism practices, including ethical sourcing, carbon footprint tracking, and managing environmental impact.

Role of diplomats in promoting tourism

Speakers

– Suzan M. Ongalo
– Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu

Arguments

Collaboration between tourism sector and foreign affairs

Equipping diplomats with factual tourism information

Diplomats as brand ambassadors for tourism destinations

Summary

Speakers agree on the importance of diplomats in promoting tourism, emphasizing the need for collaboration and equipping diplomats with accurate information.

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers highlight the growing importance of internet connectivity in tourism, noting how it’s becoming a priority for tourists and attracting new segments like digital nomads.

Speakers

– Wasiu A. Babalola
– Suzan M. Ongalo

Arguments

Increasing demand for Wi-Fi and connectivity

Rise of digital nomads as a new tourist segment

These speakers emphasize the need to promote intra-African tourism and address negative perceptions to boost tourism in the continent.

Speakers

– Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu
– Katherine Getao

Arguments

Need for regional integration in African tourism

Potential for intra-African tourism

Addressing negative perceptions of African destinations

Unexpected consensus

Digital platforms as a democratizing force in tourism

Speakers

– Wasiu A. Babalola
– Suzan M. Ongalo

Arguments

Digital platforms create opportunities for small businesses

COVID-19 accelerated digital adoption in tourism

Explanation

Despite representing different sectors (hotel chain and tourism federation), both speakers unexpectedly agree on the democratizing effect of digital platforms, allowing smaller players to compete alongside larger businesses.

Overall assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement include the transformative impact of digital technologies on tourism, the importance of sustainability, the role of diplomats in promoting tourism, and the need for improved connectivity and regional integration in African tourism.

Consensus level

There is a high level of consensus among the speakers on the key issues discussed. This suggests a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities in digital diplomacy and tourism in Africa, which could facilitate coordinated efforts to address these issues and promote growth in the sector.

Different viewpoints

Approach to digital transformation in tourism

Speakers

– Suzan M. Ongalo
– Wasiu A. Babalola

Arguments

COVID-19 accelerated digital adoption in tourism

Digital platforms create opportunities for small businesses

Summary

While both speakers acknowledge the impact of digital transformation, Suzan focuses on the acceleration due to COVID-19, emphasizing the adoption by SMEs, while Wasiu highlights the opportunities created by digital platforms for smaller businesses to compete globally.

Unexpected differences

Prioritization of internet connectivity over security

Speakers

– Wasiu A. Babalola
– Suzan M. Ongalo

Arguments

Changing priorities of tourists (e.g. internet over security)

Rise of digital nomads as a new tourist segment

Explanation

Wasiu’s mention of tourists prioritizing internet availability over security in some cities is unexpected and contrasts with the general assumption that security would be a top priority. This difference highlights the evolving needs of modern tourists and the importance of digital infrastructure in tourism.

Overall assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement revolve around the specific approaches to digital transformation in tourism, the role of diplomats in promoting tourism, and the prioritization of tourist needs.

difference_level

The level of disagreement among the speakers is relatively low. Most speakers agree on the importance of digital transformation and sustainability in tourism, but differ in their emphasis on specific aspects or approaches. These differences provide a comprehensive view of the challenges and opportunities in digital diplomacy and tourism in Africa, rather than presenting conflicting viewpoints that would hinder progress in the field.

Partial agreements

Both speakers agree on the importance of diplomats in promoting tourism, but Suzan emphasizes providing factual information to diplomats, while Isabella focuses on diplomats sharing positive experiences on their digital platforms.

Speakers

– Suzan M. Ongalo
– Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu

Arguments

Collaboration between tourism sector and foreign affairs

Diplomats as brand ambassadors for tourism destinations

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers highlight the growing importance of internet connectivity in tourism, noting how it’s becoming a priority for tourists and attracting new segments like digital nomads.

Speakers

– Wasiu A. Babalola
– Suzan M. Ongalo

Arguments

Increasing demand for Wi-Fi and connectivity

Rise of digital nomads as a new tourist segment

These speakers emphasize the need to promote intra-African tourism and address negative perceptions to boost tourism in the continent.

Speakers

– Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu
– Katherine Getao

Arguments

Need for regional integration in African tourism

Potential for intra-African tourism

Addressing negative perceptions of African destinations

Key takeaways

Digital transformation has created new opportunities for tourism promotion and accessibility in Africa

Sustainability and responsible tourism practices are increasingly important

Digital diplomacy can play a key role in promoting African tourism destinations

There is growing demand for connectivity and digital infrastructure from tourists

Regional integration and intra-African tourism present opportunities for growth

Resolutions and action items

Educate and sensitize people on the importance of AI in the tourism sector

Develop AI policies and infrastructure for African countries

Strengthen cyber security laws to protect cultural resources

Equip diplomats with factual tourism information to promote destinations

Invest in digital infrastructure like Wi-Fi to meet tourist demands

Unresolved issues

How to effectively balance data privacy concerns with tourism promotion needs

Strategies for changing negative perceptions of some African destinations

Ways to make intra-African travel more affordable and accessible

How to increase tourism numbers while maintaining environmental sustainability

Suggested compromises

Allow tourists to access and share some cultural data/images, but with proper consent and regulations

Focus on promoting regional African tourism while also marketing to international travelers

Invest in both human interaction and AI/chatbots to provide a balanced tourist experience

Data is something that is very interesting, and one needs to be very careful when dealing with data. With digital technology, we realize that tourists, visitors have access to all these data, and they are readily available. Now, despite the fact that we need to strike a balance, now let’s look at the positive side of making this data available. Now, as Africans, what has this done for us? One thing is certain, that making this data available has enabled us to address some misconceptions about ourselves as Africans by those who have data to share on the spot.

Speaker

Professor Wasiu Babalola

Reason

This comment provides a nuanced perspective on the complex issue of data privacy and sharing in tourism, highlighting both risks and potential benefits for African countries.

Impact

It shifted the discussion from purely focusing on data protection to considering how data sharing could be leveraged strategically to combat stereotypes about Africa. This led to further discussion about balancing openness with protecting cultural assets.

We’ve seen Western countries really going big on AI. And the only thing I can start by saying is that this is the kind of technology we may be cautious, a bit averse to it, but it is technology that has taken off and it’s not going back. And much as Africa and maybe Kenya, and even the tourism sector in our country, we can say maybe we are still lagging behind when it comes to appreciating the benefits of AI, but the benefits far much outweigh what we call the setbacks.

Speaker

Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu

Reason

This comment acknowledges the challenges Africa faces in adopting AI while emphasizing the importance of embracing this technology despite initial hesitations.

Impact

It prompted a deeper discussion about the specific ways AI could benefit African tourism and the steps needed to close the technological gap with other regions.

Recently we had a photography competition and there was a category for sustainability. I was one of the judges for that photography. And we had a sustainable category that really showed that the plastic that was being burned or the plastic that we still use, it should not be used as single-use plastic. And there were entries that showed marvelous things that have been made, even souvenirs out of plastic.

Speaker

Suzan M. Ongalo

Reason

This comment provides a concrete example of how sustainability is being integrated into tourism practices and promotion in innovative ways.

Impact

It sparked further discussion about creative approaches to sustainability in tourism and how these efforts can be communicated to environmentally-conscious travelers.

Our biggest undoing as Africa is keeping some of these borders and then not opening up to fellow Africans to enjoy the products that we have. For instance, if we talk about our beaches in Mombasa, we should make it easy for people to travel from somewhere like Kigali, Rwanda, Uganda, to come and have a holiday in Mombasa, for instance, and enjoy our beaches.

Speaker

Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu

Reason

This comment highlights a critical barrier to intra-African tourism and suggests a shift in focus from international to regional travelers.

Impact

It redirected the conversation towards discussing internal barriers to African tourism growth and potential solutions, such as improved regional integration and infrastructure.

Overall assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by broadening its scope beyond just digital technologies in tourism. They introduced nuanced perspectives on data sharing, AI adoption, sustainability practices, and regional integration. This led to a more holistic conversation about the challenges and opportunities facing African tourism, balancing technological advancement with cultural preservation and sustainable development. The discussion evolved from focusing solely on attracting international tourists to considering how to better facilitate intra-African tourism and leverage technology to address misconceptions about the continent.

How can African countries improve regional integration to boost tourism within the continent?

Speaker

Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu

Explanation

This is important because regional integration could significantly increase tourist numbers and make travel between African countries easier and more affordable.

What strategies can be employed to change negative perceptions of African countries as tourist destinations?

Speaker

Katherine Getao

Explanation

This is crucial for attracting more tourists to countries that may have previously had security or other issues affecting their image.

How can African countries develop and implement comprehensive AI policies for the tourism sector?

Speaker

Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu

Explanation

This is important for ensuring Africa keeps pace with global technological advancements in tourism and leverages AI effectively.

What measures can be taken to protect cultural artifacts and images from being monetized without proper consent or compensation?

Speaker

Sarah (chat participant)

Explanation

This is important for preserving cultural heritage and ensuring fair economic benefits for local communities.

How can African countries strengthen their cyber security laws to protect cultural and tourism-related digital assets?

Speaker

Wasiu A. Babalola

Explanation

This is crucial for safeguarding African cultural heritage in the digital age and regulating the use of cultural information by tourists.

What kind of education and training should be provided to diplomats to better promote tourism and protect African interests in international forums?

Speaker

Katherine Getao

Explanation

This is important for ensuring effective representation of African tourism interests in global policy-making processes.

How can governments be influenced to invest more in energy, telecommunications, and ICT infrastructure to support tourism?

Speaker

Katherine Getao

Explanation

This is crucial for meeting the evolving needs of modern tourists and improving the overall tourist experience in African countries.