- as Ckrowd Tech leverages visual contents to tell indigenous stories
Audio-visual contents are key to boosting domestic tourism drive as the diaspora and prospective tourists are motivated on what they see in order to make decisions to visit particular destinations, CEO of Ckrowd Technology Incorporated, Kayode Adebayo, has said.
Mr. Adebayo said though Ghana has made significant strides in the promotion of tourism for domestic and international visitors through the ‘Year of Return’ and other key initiatives, concerted efforts must be put in place to gather seasoned content creators to market the country and increase visitor numbers.
Ckrowd, which is a media, educational, and advertising technology platform, has been working to boost domestic tourism drive through the distribution of exclusive African indigenous video content to whet tourists’ appetite and to increase diaspora visitor numbers into destinations across the continent.
The company, which is a video monetisation technology platform, supports the publishing and distribution of African content to local and global audience on behalf of content creators to generate premium revenue.
Kayode Adebayo, speaking to the B&FT on how the platform functions, said: “We want African stories being told by the African; our culture, lifestyle, people, geographical space, etc. to feed those diasporans who are detached. This is one of the ways to drive tourism and increase visitor numbers”.
“With Ckrowd, a million views should change the life of the content creator forever. Our platform allows you to build an exclusive content for the super fun consumer, using very cheap advertising through SMS, WhatsApp, and email marketing to exclusive consumers, with a digital paywall,” Mr. Kayode added.
Contents on the platform, which reaches more than 40 million people in the diaspora, according to Kayode, spans from on-demand content such as documentaries, lifestyle, live performances, education events, culture, tourism, culinary, among others.
“What Ckrowd wants is technology that understands the African ideology, behavioural pattern of the African in content consumption and distribution; and helping to protect intellectual properties of creators,” he assured.
Ckrowd’s monetisation formula for content creators, which include, pay per view contents and subscription formula, as well as content renting, pays 70 percent revenue to content creators of the platform.
Launched in 2021, with two registered consumers, Ckrowd has garnered more than 95,000 consumers within a year. These consumers, according to the company, has penchant for premium contents.
This year, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is anticipating one million international tourist arrivals with a corresponding tourism receipt of over US$2billion.
But Mr. Kayode said the target can be given a boost when video content creators are involved in the agenda to drive significant numbers to meet the agenda.
“The international market is enthused about what is happening in Africa. People want to see and know the destinations they are about to visit in order to pay premium prices. This is why video contents on Ckrowd is key to convincing the diaspora to visit Ghana,” he said.
“We are opened to partnerships to ensure that we assist to boost diaspora visits into the country’s tourism space,” he added.
