Lagos, Nigeria, 25th February, 2015 – Jovago, www.jovago.com – Africa’s largest online hotel booking platform has endorsed social media as one of their key channels for interacting with customers and handling travel requests and enquiries.
Travel curators, bloggers, photographers and the general travelling public now frequently use social media to re-position the African continent as a tourist friendly continent. In turn, travel websites, agencies and hotel aggregating websites have sprung up to cater to the teeming population of travellers and encourage an internal rediscovery of the African continent both for business and leisure purposes. This year’s #SMWTravelAfrica Day explored how online travel agencies, hotel booking portals, tourism boards, airlines and tour operators are working hard to harness the power of digital media to the delight of destination seekers and how they are keeping these customers satisfied, both on and offline.
Speaking at the session -#SMWTravelAfrica DEFYING SPACE & TIME: SOCIAL MEDIA TAKING YOU (& YOUR BUSINESS) PLACES – were Marek Zmyslowski, Managing Director, Jovago.com; Adetunji Adegbesan, Lecturer & Founder, Gidi Mobile; Ayo Oyewole, CEO, Afro Tourism; Fiewor Genevieve, Ticketing & Sales Manager, Africa World Airlines and hosted by Oluwaseun Olaniyan, OAP, Nigeria Info fm.
Marek Zmyslowski revealed that social media has been really vital in the way Jovago interacts with customers. “Our Facebook & Twitter pages are the most active as we have customers sending us messages about their bookings and to suggest the best hotels for them. With the phone networks being sometimes heavily, we find ourselves also relying heavily on social media as a channel to engage with our customers.”
Jovago.com in 2014 was nominated for an award for their excellent customer service by the Nigeria Customer Service Awards. The Nigeria Customer Service Awards is an award based on customer nominations and which is aimed at raising the standards of Customer Service in all sectors in Nigeria. In 2013, the awards honoured such companies as Toyota, Elizade, Channels TV and Etisalat.
Speaking on the impact of social media on their business, the CEO of Afro Tourism enjoined that “twitter has been quite essential for their business but Instagram is also very powerful because it’s visual and customers are able to see beautiful pictures of the African continent as we promote it.”
About Jovago
Jovago.com is an online hotel booking service headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, founded by Africa Internet Group and has MTN as one of the investors. Jovago.com, Africa’s No.1 booking portal, facilitates the booking process for its users to provide them with the best hotel booking experience with fast, transparent and easy-to-use services. Jovago.com has over 6,000 hotels in Nigeria, over 20,000 local hotel listings across Africa and over 200,000 hotels around the world.
About AIG
Africa Internet Group introduces and accelerates the online shift in Africa – for its people and its culture. It is committed to running successful and vibrant internet companies which boost the evolution of African online culture. AIG is the parent group of nine successful and fast-growing companies in more than 26 African countries, accounting for over 3,500 staff. AIG cares about entrepreneurship and brings together all the key elements required to build great companies: team, concept, technology and capital. Its network of companies includes JUMIA, Kaymu, Hellofood, Lamudi, Carmudi, Zando, Jovago, Lendico and Easy Taxi.
About Social Media Week Lagos
Social Media Week Lagos is a week-long conference that provides the ideas, trends, insights and inspiration to help people and businesses understand how to achieve more in a hyper-connected world. The event features a central stage for keynotes and panels, multiple rooms for workshops, master classes and presentations, and an area dedicated to co-working, networking and interactive installations. Our mission is to help people and organizations connect through collaboration, learning and the sharing of ideas and information.
