Cape Town: The city launches new ‘Choose Cape Town’ branding campaign at airport, that highlights the ocean adventures, investment opportunities and colourful culture. The campaign aims to boost the tourism and create jobs by building on successful marketing efforts.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Growth – Alderman James Vos proudly unveiled the new ‘Choose Cape Town’ branding campaign this week at the Cape Town International Airport, by leading up to the Tourism Month and the upcoming visitor season, also setting the stage for an impactful travel marketing initiative.
Reportedly, the vibrant new branding will greet arriving and departing travellers at the airport’s international terminal, by inviting them to ‘choose ocean adventure, investment opportunities, colourful culture’ and much more as they explore that Cape Town has to offer.
According to Vos, the latest campaign built on the momentum of the highly successful marketing efforts by the Tourism and Place-Marketing Branch within the City’s Economic Growth Directorate, that last year reached to millions at global level.
As per the stats, 8.2 million people in US cities like New York, Miami, Washington and Atlanta and 3.3 million in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
Vos added that they reached a staggering 25.4 million people across the European cities, in the year 2022. They have also extended the reach to travellers through the first two editions of the ‘This is Cape Town Magazine’, which is available online in airport lounges around the country and on Kenya Airways flights.
Meanwhile, the recent content partnership campaign generated more than 2.6 million impressions strategically targeting the key international cities such as Lagos, Nairobi, Harare, Gaborone, Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Rome, Paris, berlin, Amsterdam, London, Zurich, Sydney, Miami and New York.
Furthermore, to ensure the broad engagement, the content was translated into multiple languages, said Alderman Vos.
The Campaign falls within the five-point action programme, identified by Alderman Vos and implemented in collaboration with City teams and the business partners, such as Cape Town Tourism and Wesgro and the private sector.
The campaign was arranged to drive the tourism economy forward, according to the action points that expand flights, boost cruises, drive conferences, diversify tourism and do target the marketing.
So far, Cape Town’s tourism achievements, considers a total of 853,019 international flight arrivals between January and July 2024, which is 11% more compared to the same period in 2023.
An increase of 7% in domestic flight arrivals with 2,026,238 people was also seen. The cruise ships sector brought in R1.2 billion to the local economy in 2023 through the passenger spending and ship services.
Moreover, for every 30 arriving cruise passengers, the Western Cape cruise industry created a one full-time job.
As per the Gross Value Add (GVA) of tourism, published by Cape Town Tourism, the city’s official Destination Marketing Organisation reached an estimated R27.3 billion in the year 2023, while representing 7.7% of the metro’s total GVA.
The stats recorded are the well above of 2019 GVA of R24.5 billion growth. The tourism industry employed 91,378 people in the metro last year, representing 5.9% of the city’s total employment.
Alderman Vos also stated that expanding the flight routes and encouraging the increase in cruise ships from Cape Town and attracting more events and conferences, which are all key parts of the programme.
He said that the City funds the Convention Bureau to secure and support the conferences, that brings the delegates who spend money in the businesses, from accommodation to retail and beyond.
The events introduced the new ideas and connections to Cape Town, but also directly contribute to the local economy. The Bureau secured 30 bids for the April 2023 to March 2024 period, which pored R1.03 billion into the region.
Supporting the tourism that connects the business is another essential element, to which James Vos said, “I firmly believe that if we continue to focus on these key touchpoints, we can not only boost the volume of arrivals and increase the spending, but also created one tourism-related job in every household in Cape Town.”
“This is why we will continue to push forward with the projects that create jobs and opportunities in the communities,” said Alderman Vos.
James Vos said that the coming Tourism Month will share the exciting new initiatives, including a platform for exploring the region’s wonderful wines, videos showcasing the diverse cuisine, the official launch of the Responsible Tourism Carter and an international airline partnership campaign promised further to elevate Cape Town’s global appeal.
The Economic Growth Directorate’s Tourism and Place-Marketing Branch, reflecting the commitment by the city to position Cape Town as a top global destination, spearheads the campaigns and initiatives.