A host of online innovators, creators and online celebrities from across the globe will be presenting at this year’s 7th annual E- Tourism Africa Summits in both Cape Town and Johannesburg. Presenters will include leading global online brands including Facebook, Twitter, TripAdvisor and Google alongside new creative travel companies and content creators who are changing the way travel is sold. South African Tourism is the title sponsor of the summit in Cape Town and Johannesburg and Gauteng Tourism Authority is supporting the summit in Johannesburg.

Damian Cook, the CEO of E-Tourism Frontiers, the company organizing the summits, said this year’s events will focus on how online travel is changing and adapting and how a personal touch is becoming a key focus. “The human face of travel is really becoming more important online. When people are researching a trip, they now want to see opinions and comments from a trusted and often, local source. The value of local, real time experts is now hugely important and sites such as TripAdvisor and Facebook are seeing this change and ensuring that travel content has a genuine human presence”, said Cook.
Reflecting this personalized touch in the online travel world is Tripbod, a popular travel app that was recently bought by TripAdvisor. Tripbod offers personalized travel experiences by having local experts share their favorite places and uncover hidden local gems. The CEO of Tripbod – Sally Broom will be presenting at both summits. Also presenting this year is Tim Davey the CEO of - Onefinestay, one of the leaders in the new and popular online community of non-hotel accommodation sellers.

“Both the summits in Cape Town and Johannesburg are packed with a line up of great international speakers and global online brands. To open the summit in Cape Town this year, we will have the new Minister of Tourism for South Africa  - Derek Hanekom. We are very privileged and delighted to have the Minister on board and it really shows how the E- Tourism Africa Summit has gained in stature over the years to become Africa’s premiere online tourism and technology event”, said Cook.

Gauteng Tourism Authority CEO, Dawn Robertson, said she is very excited about the summit coming to Johannesburg this year. “We are delighted to support the first E-Tourism Africa Summit at the unique Turbine Hall venue in Newtown, Johannesburg. In giving the Gauteng tourism community access to some of the world’s leading online travel companies, we are ensuring our industry stays informed  about the latest trends and innovation in online travel, so they remain relevant in a highly competitive, ever-evolving digital environment. We are very pleased to work with E-Tourism Frontiers  and TripAdvisor to provide our industry further business development and training opportunities post the summit to learn essential and practical online skills. Gauteng, as an innovative province and a premier business and events destination, is an ideal host for this cutting edge tourism event and we look forward to facilitating networking, stimulating business growth and sharing the experience.”

The E-Tourism Africa Summit (Cape Town) will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on the 4th and 5th of September 2014.  And the E-Tourism Africa Summit (Johannesburg) will be held in Turbine Hall in Newtown in Johannesburg on the 8th and 9th of September 2014.