ExperiencesNotThings Campaign Launched To Inspire Consumers To Buy Travel, Not Trinkets

It’s competition time with travel prizes from overnight stays to special South African experiences to the collective value of approximately R70,000 up for grabs as part of South Africa is Travel Ready’s #ExperiencesNotThings campaign, inspiring consumers to invest in memories this Festive Season.

As South Africa heads into its annual summer holiday, the South Africa is Travel Ready Collective has launched an innovative campaign to inspire consumers to buy experiences instead of things to reconnect with yourself, your friends and family. In addition to a social media and marketing campaign featuring available tourism experiences in South Africa across a range of categories, the #ExperiencesNotThings competition will run until 10 January 2021, with travel prizes being drawn from the 11^th to 31^st January.

“Lucky locals will receive the gift of travel experiences, extending the festive cheer well into 2021 and highlighting the role that locals can play in supporting the tourism sector after an extremely challenging year due to lockdowns and the phased reopening of international tourism to our shores,” says Amy Knight-Dawson, Director Scribe Consulting, a member of the South Africa is Travel Ready Collective.

• The curated list of #ExperiencesNotThings are featured on https://traveltosouthafrica.org/experiences-not-things/ and locals can book directly with the experience provider.
• To enter the competition, simply visit: https://traveltosouthafrica.org/experiences-competition/.

“If you’re lucky enough to have spare cash this Festive Season, please consider steering clear from throw-away décor items for your festive table and put food on someone else’s table instead by supporting the tourism sector. Besides, if all you want for the Festive Season is time out of your house, there’s an experience on offer to deliver it,” concludes Dionne Collett, Director, Take Note Reputation Management, a member of the South Africa is Travel Ready Collective.

After a tough year, consumers are looking for ways to escape and reconnect meaningfully with others. A 20-year study by Cornell University shows how investing in experiences over things delivers ‘enduring happiness’ as you are able to break out from your everyday routine, try something new when you travel. In addition to experiences being a bigger part of identity than material goods, investing in experiences supports the tourism economy which has been hard hit by COVID and holds one of the greatest potentials for reigniting South Africa’s economy.