An online tourism text book “E Tourism Frontiers Guide to Online Tourism” has been launched to spearhead the delegates in the upcoming e tourism East Africa road show.

The 140 paged text book has been especially written for emerging markets such as East Africa and will be given to all delegates attending the upcoming E tourism Road show which is sponsored by Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and VISA.
Damian Cook who is the author of the new textbook and also a CEO and founder of E tourism frontiers  and a global expert on online tourism.Kenya based Cook has a long track record of working across Africa in the online tourism sector. Since 2001, has advised and worked with numerous tourist boards and tourism ministries across Africa and the middle East on developing online marketing and a business strategies for destinations.
It is now accepted that there is a revolutionary change occurring online- as we move into the new world of a user generated and controlled Web. While the first decade of online development was devoted to amassing and categorizing content online, the focus now is on making this content function for individuals and businesses.
“ It was vital that all tourism players continue to increase both their understanding and investment in to the online sector.” Cook stated
Online sales continue to grow despite the global recession and more than 60% of travel for both business and leisure now being booked via the internet and raising well over US $ 150 billion .therefore the internet cannot be considered a small part of the tourism sector.
In tourism terms the web has become a business environment a platform upon which information is used to drive billions of dollars in international revenue. In addition, the ability to now easily share and publish content outside of the limits of a website has meant that online is fast becoming a new dominant form of broadcast media, through the proliferation of user generated content(UGC)- blogs, reviews, photos and video created by consumers and shared online. It is now estimated that within the next 3 years 70% of all content online will have been generated by individual users.
“ Our industry needs to focus not just on their own marketing but to encourage their clientele to market for them  via social media. 50% of travelers now read a review before booking a hotel or trip for long destination and this is especially relevant travel to Africa. Facebook, tweeter and  you tube are vital tools when researching travel. However only a small of East Africa Tourism companies are really accessing and using these tools to their full potential.”The textbook.
The new textbook will support the E tourism east Africa Road Show that kicks off today in Mombasa and will travel across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The book gives a very easy to follow guide and simple explanation on how tourism companies can move their business online, both in Marketing, operations and e-commerce