Cape Town: The biggest and boldest tourism and place-marketing initiative of the City of Cape Town ‘This Is Cape Town’ campaign is flying to New York, London and several other European cities this month, this followed a successful run in African cities and Brazil.
The campaign was launched late last year by the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Growth and Tourism – Alderman James Vos. It is being rolled out over several months across six continents and 55 cities worldwide. The campaign is designed to drive international interest and bookings that support tourism industry of the Cape Town and the jobs it sustains.
According to James Vos, the focus of This Is Cape Town is to ensure that global attention translates into real travel demand with real spend in the local economy and real job opportunities for Capetonians.
The strategy of the campaign is being activated across a range of high-visibility platforms and locations, including the digital billboards and public transport advertising in key precincts across the target cities.
Distinctive feature of the campaign is to use moving billboards in the US and UK. In New York, digital screens are mounted on iconic yellow taxis, while in London, traditional black cabs are wrapped in This Is Cape Town branding.
These London cabs also feature Virgin Atlantic advertising inside the city including a QR code that links directly to flight bookings. Further, the marketing has gone live on Connected TV platforms in Italy, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany.
Considering this, Vos stated that Cape Town has seen a notable increase in global air connectivity. It is supported by sustained and targeted place marketing campaigns such as ‘This Is Cape Town’. He added that when United Airlines launched direct flights from Newark Liberty International Airport to Cape Town in 2019 around 3500 passenger seats were available that year.
Reportedly, United airlines between 2019 to 2025 have operated 1,324 flights and delivered a cumulative 337,374 passenger seats on the route. By 2025, the annual seat capacity increased to 85,500 seats, with a projected 91,749 seats in 2026.
This increased demand led United Airlines to introduce a direct Washington D.C. to Cape Town flight. Also, it will strengthen the connectivity between the US and Cape Town. The Growth has also been recorded in the UK market.
Alderman Vos said that the Virgin Atlantic has increased London-Cape Town services from three flights per week in December 2021 to seven per week during the current peak period. In total, Cape Town currently enjoys 28 direct flights per week between London and Cape Town, serviced by British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Norse Atlantic Airways.
Currently, the global rollout builds strong digital performance in São Paulo and African cities, including Lusaka and Nairobi, where the campaign reached more than 17 million people on META platforms in just one month.
James Vos also expressed that beyond creating awareness, tourism contributed R27.5 billion to the economy of Cape Town in 2024 and supported over 106,000 jobs. Their focus is on growing numbers through smart, high-impact and cost-effective campaigns that are backed by conversion in key source markets.
In coming months, This Is Cape Town is set to go live in additional markets including China, India, the United Arab Emirates and Australia.