3 Must-Known Localization Tips for Travel Companies

South Africa -The Rainbow Nation – exemplifies how a beautiful country with diversified cultures, racial and ethnic groups are united in one country. Therefore, it’s no surprise that it’s a well-known destination for tourists from different parts of the world. It has a variety of activities and adventures like wildlife, nature, sports, and beaches that make it a hot spot for tourists.

In addition, tourism is remarkably contributing to the South African economy and providing a very strong economic value to South Africa as a country and to millions of people who are working in this sector. It contributed 29% to South African gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016 and 1.5 million jobs to the economy in 2018. According to a report by the World Travel & Tourism Council, South Africa is the largest tourism economy across the African continent.

When Tourism and Translation Industry Meet Each other

With the important role played by the tourism industry, it becomes necessary for companies to start translating their materials – like booking websites, brochures, guided tours, sales leaflets, and information bulletins – into many languages.

As a result, tourist and travel companies who are looking to expand their business know-how important translation is as it will help them to achieve the following objectives:

Attract more clients from different countries.
Build a solid business reputation.
Make your materials user-friendly.

South Africa is now aware of the importance of localization services due to the huge number of tourists pouring into the country every year. According to a recent report, India comes in the 3rd place among the countries whose citizens visit South Africa (13 thousand Indians every year); then comes Germany and France. This will definitely create a huge impact on the tourism industry and how it becomes a must for companies to start translating and localizing their content. Tourists now are booking their flights, hotel reservations, tours and even tickets for museums and historical places online. So the chances of reaching more customers are higher. As a result, translation companies in South Africa have equipped themselves with linguists with extensive experience in the tourism industry.

Important tips when translating online for international tourists:

1- Define Your Target Markets

Travel companies are hitting customers from different countries, cultures, and languages; that’s why localization is important. But first, companies should start with deciding which specific countries want to focus on them. For South Africa, the target markets are mainly the USA & the UK; so they need to follow a few steps to ensure reaching more clients:

Know the target keywords that tourists are using to search for holidays.
Localize the content to each country so as to fit well with their culture(s).
Create new domains for each market.

By doing so, customers will feel that these travel agencies are talking to them in particular and a good bond will be created between the customer and the company.

2- Don’t Forget Booking Methods

In the internet era when everyone is managing everything from his mobile device, 80% of travel bookings are now done online, something on which travel companies should not miss out. They need to create their websites to be mobile-friendly or to create mobile apps to promote their travel services.

Another important thing is securing these websites and apps, as people are using their personal and payment details to make the reservations; so it’s very crucial to secure this data and make sure it won’t be hacked, as if this happens it will ruin the reputation of the travel company.

3- Human Translation Always Wins

Despite the huge role of machines and robots, machine translation still is not the best option for translating travel websites and materials. It comes with a lot of errors and needs a second eye to maintain accuracy. So if you are looking for translation services in South Africa for your travel business, we recommend hiring a translation company that can talk to your target customers in a friendly and enticing way.

4- Accurate translation matters

There is no room for poor translation when it comes to travel companies, as you are talking to your customers to convince them to trust you and book their next vacation with your company. So take care and make sure to partner with a translation company in South Africa that has strong experience in providing timely, accurate translation.

5- Localise All Important Touchpoints

There are certain pages that every customer will be checking in your website, like the booking pages, feedback pages, the about us page and Contact us page. Also you can double-check these pages by analyzing your Google Analytics and see which pages attract more visitors.These pages are the touchpoints that need to be well translated and localized, as they affect your brand’s name.

AfroLingo is one of the translation companies in South Africa that is committed to achieve the highest-quality translation services for travel companies acrossSouth Africa. An ISO 17100 certified company, we follow the international standards of translation, aiming to build a strong partnership & trust between us and our clients.

One of the best local l translation companies in South Africa, we know how the travel business is working and what they are expecting from translation companies. We have a wide spectrum of services that includes:

So, if you are running a business in the tourism industry and looking for a translation company in South Africa, we are pleased to arrange a meeting for you with one of our sales teams to discuss the best language solutions that fit your business.

Don’t hesitate and give us a call on (+27) 213002355 or drop us an email, and we will get back to you shortly.