Technology has made the world smaller. As a traveller, in a click, you can find any information you need when making decisions. People are more likely to relate to other people’s travel experiences, their opinions and reviews, and most importantly, the information they derive from it. The best travel writers creatively narrate their experiences whilst visiting destinations and provide a step-by-step guide for other travellers to replicate.
The ultimate goal is sustainable tourism marketing and development in West Africa, and we can only see this when all the sectors of tourism work together. As travel agents and tour operators package destinations within the sub-region to travellers, travel writers can provide detailed reviews and itineraries to shape their decisions on which places they will love to visit during their trips, so they can recreate the memorable experiences already shared by the travel writer.
Travel writing remains an untapped area for destination marketing and promotion in West Africa, one in which organizations and tourist destinations should explore working with a travel writer to create beautiful stories for their destinations, especially for destinations and secondary cities that are not-so-talked-about on social media.
3 reasons why travel writing is important:
- It will market and promote West African tourism and its beautiful destinations
- It increases the curiosity of travellers about other destinations in the region
- It promotes better information sharing between travellers, as potential travellers can relive destination experiences creatively narrated through the eyes of another traveller