Mohalenyane Phakela
LESOTHO Tourism Development Corporation (LTDC) will next month introduce its digital services, starting with the mobile application, Lesotho Guider, which will be launched on Monday.
On Monday, being the launch of tourism month, LTDC will promote and disseminate information about the newly designed tourism mobile app to the general public and tourism stakeholders at various ports of entry and malls.
The main event will be held at the Maseru Bridge while other smaller events will be held in different parts of the country such as at the malls, Moshoeshoe I Airport, Thaba Bosiu Information Centre and Sani Pass in Mokhotlong.
On 27 September 2018, LTDC will further introduce bathroom screens which will be installed in the restrooms of both Pioneer and Maseru Mall. The event at Pioneer Mall officiated by the minister of Tourism, Environment and Culture.
The mobile application, which can be downloaded on Google Play, will enable tourists to access all information regarding Lesotho’s tourism sector while the screens will play videos promoting tourism attractions in the country.
The digital migration project is being rolled out in conjunction with this year’s world tourism theme ‘Tourism and Digital Transformation’.
Since 1980, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has marked September as the tourism month, with the World Tourism Day being commemorated on 27 September annually to underline the significance of tourism in economic development.
Addressing the media in Maseru on Tuesday, LTDC public relations manager, ‘Manchafalo Motṧoeneng said that the UNWTO recognised digital improvement and innovation as crucial facets for sustained growth of the tourism sector.
“Digital transformation is important in tourism in that tourists wishing to visit another country can research about it through the internet, which is the digital world,” Ms Motṧoeneng said.
“LTDC seeks to promote Lesotho’s digital visibility through different initiatives, including the introduction of the mobile application which can be downloaded on any Android smart phone. It encompasses everything a tourist needs to know about Lesotho’s attractions.
“The brochure which people often get from our information centres will from now on be accessed in electronic format from our website. We are making Lesotho visible globally by putting it on people’s finger tips.”
Ms Motṧoeneng also indicated that while adopting the international theme, the aim is to improve Lesotho’s tourism brand and digital marketing with other initiatives to include optimisation of social media sites and the tourism website.
She also said that they are working closely with the hospitality sector stakeholders to adopt technology in their work. She further commended Scenery Guest House which recently launched its own mobile application.
For her part, LTDC strategic marketing manager, Nkuebe Lerotholi, said that the application will further collate tourism data.
“Lesotho Guider was developed by Titan Developer and Tech Business. It is a GPS based application which also provides information about the nearest filling station, hospital, bank, restaurant as well as the nearest police station and contact details.
“It will also collect reports on the number of visitors and that will enable us to keep a database of where majority of our guests come from or which attractions are most visited. On 27 September 2018 we will launch the digital screens in shopping malls and further feed the digital screens in the central business district with tourism information,” Mr Lerotholi said.
