APRIL 2020 FORBES AFRICA | 79FORBES AFRICA
THE LISTFORBESAFRICA.COM
Merely using a traveler’s first name
in the subject line of a generic email
campaign is no longer enough.
Modern travelers expect more: they
want a streamlined, seamless and
personalized experience.largely due to sponsorship deals. Still in its infancy stages,
South African eSports players collectively made $113,912.45
in 2019 among 86 players, as per the esportsearnings.com
website. Major tech companies who’ve stepped into the social
gaming realm include Apple Arcade, Google Stadia, Microsoft
Project xCloud and Facebook’s VR world Horizon. According
to GlobalWebIndex, the gaming industry is set to be a different
beast in 2020, reinvigorating how we interact with people online.
It believes games are no longer episodic consumptive media, but
are now the basis of new massive online communities.- TRAVEL PERSONALIZATION
The ‘Connecting the Dots’ report says throughout 2019,
companies across the travel sector have been making boardroom
reshuffles, rebranding and investing in technology to create a
new type of travel economy; and come 2020 (if all returns to
normal if and when the coronavirus pandemic dies down), these
changes will start to filter down to consumers. It believes there
is a host of competitors aiming to become ubiquitous, end-to-
end travel providers, such as aggregators and meta-searchers
Expedia and Booking.com. Personalized service will be a key
trend in 2020, says Flight Centre’s Andrew Grunewald. “Merely
using a traveler’s first name in the subject line of a generic email
campaign is no longer enough. Modern travelers expect more:
they want a streamlined, seamless and personalized experience.” - PRIVACY AROUND BEING CASHLESS
In 2020, the spotlight might begin to move from what we’re
looking at online, to what we’re paying for in our day-to-day
lives, whether that’s offline or online, says Chase Buckle, trends
manager at GlobalWebIndex. According to the company, 58%
of South Africans have transferred money to family or friends
on their mobile devices – 11% above the global average; and
yet, only 15% have used a mobile payment service – 12% below
the global average. Interestingly, 10% of South Africans own
cryptocurrency, placing South Africa sixth in its global rankings.
The South African Reserve Bank is set to introduce new rules to
govern the use of digital and cryptocurrencies in 2020, after a
five-year long consultation period that began in 2014.