Tourism Public Lecture 2018

Tourism Public Lecture is celebrated annually hosted by the Minister as a platform to exchange and share ideas with different stakeholders such as industry, academics, policy makers and practitioners in order to enhance strategies, planning, s and policy decision-making within the tourism sector.

Department of Tourism in partnership with the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency, and Walter u University will host the public on the 18th of September 2018 at Walter u University, Umtata, in the Eastern Cape. The lecture will be under the theme: “Tourism and the Digital Transformation”, aligned to the United Nations World Tourism n (UNWTO) 2018 World Tourism Day Celebration.

2018 Tourism Public Lecture will focus on how digital transformation is affecting the demand and supply of tourism services and products, with special focus on small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs). The lecture will also touch on opportunities provided to tourism, by technological advances including artificial intelligence and digital platforms. The UNWTO considers digital transformation, innovation as part of the solution to the challenge of responding to continued growth of a sustainable tourism sector.

Public Lecture aims to achieve amongst others, the following objectives:

To raise awareness about the impact of technology and digital transformation in the sector and for tourism enterprises;
To highlight technological and digital trends affecting and determining the future of tourism;
To stimulate government, industry and civil society cooperation around the issues of digital transformation and sharing economy;
To share best practices and case studies on digital transformation for tourism enterprises; and
To encourage academia to conduct research to inform plans, s, policy and strategies in relation to digital transformation;

GUEST SPEAKER

PROFILE

Ryan Hogarth is a researcher and writer who is well versed on the impact of the evolving digital age on the nature of business models and relationships.

Hogarth has worked with small and large corporates, offering guidance on how to navigate the ever changing world of business in relation to technological advancements.

Author of the Amazon bestseller “How to Win Influence and Friend People: The New Business Manifesto for Generation X,” Ryan has been featured on multiple radio platforms, and regularly writes for business and consumer magazines.

Click here to access his presentation at the 2018 Tourism Public Lecture.

PANELIST	PROFILES
	Mr. Iain Manley - Voice Map Iain Manley is the CEO and co-founder of VoiceMap a publishing platform for audio tours. Available in 42 countries, VoiceMap is leading product development across web and has collaborated with contributors in more than 100 cities around the world. Iain has established partnerships with a number of leading tourist attractions globally, with a combined footfall of over one hundred million people.
	Mr. Bokang Mabiletsa - Director: Mind Interactive Established in 2005, Mind Interactive is one of South Africa’s leading creative digital agencies based in Johannesburg, and specialising in web development and digital marketing. Mr a is Director and brand builder with over 13 years’ experience in the digital marketing sector, and has served both top international and local companies. He has worked on over 500 online digital projects with clients such as Gauteng Tourism Authority, Department of Environmental Affairs, Barloworld, Anglo American, Telkom, Bidvest and many others.
	Ms. Belinda Matebese – CSIR Belinda Matebese is a CSIR researcher under the Modelling and Digital Science unit, with the Mobile Intelligent and Autonomous Systems (MIAS) department. Ms Matebese completed her BSc in Applied Mathematics and Electronics from the North-West University (NWU Mafikeng Campus) in 2007. Subsequent to that she obtained a BSc Honours and Masters in Applied Maths in 2010. She is currently enrolled for a PhD in Applied Mathematics at the Stellenbosch University and will be graduating in December. Her PhD thesis is titled ''Path planning of mobile robots using Optimal Control Approach''.
	Mr. Richard Frank - Flow Communications Richard Frank is head of Flow Communications digital team, and has extensive experience in managing large development teams and complex web projects, IT infrastructure and hosting strategy. He has been part of the development teams on some of South Africa’s destination marketing websites such as Northern Cape Tourism, the Gauteng Tourism Authority, and South African Tourism and Madiba’s Journey Mobile App.
	Ms. Mosa Mkhize - Uber SA Mosa Mkhize is the Public Policy Senior Associate for Uber South Africa. In this role, Mosa focuses on supporting Uber’s Government Affairs and Policy team in South Africa as well as working to ensure that the regulatory framework in every country supports ride-sharing apps such as Uber. Ms. Mkhize has been with Uber since January 2017. She has a passion for international trade and government policy, and for forging strategic relations with stakeholders with a view to improving the lives of South Africans, with a particular interest in technology and transport.
	Mr. Mthoko Mncwabe - ACSA Group CIO Mthokozisi joined Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) in 2018. His role is at Airports Company South Africa entails adding value, driving efficiency in the business through direct management of application performance, and ensuring the performance of business-critical applications. As the former group CIO at the South African Post Office (SAPO) and Postbank, Mncwabe led the national postal service’s strategic technology vision, business revenue development, as well as management of business operations. His projects included broadband deployment and IT consolidation. He also headed up a broad cross-section of the Post Office’s cyber security efforts, including public-private partnerships to secure critical infrastructure, cyber risk management, and a system to alert government and industry of threats and response strategy.