Cape Town's technology-driven destination marketing efforts have been integral to keeping the city top of mind for international travellers, consequently helping to sustain the upward trajectory of inbound arrivals.
The use of virtual reality (VR)-driven marketing and digital content creation by the city's tourism authorities and hotels has resulted in a significant boost in exposure and virtual interaction with the region's products, translating to increased bookings.
Launched at World Travel Market (WTM) Africa in April, a content partnership with digital content creators - designed to leverage the voices and perspectives of local tourism operators to create authentic and compelling marketing material - has already had far-reaching impacts.
Content produced by the creators and posted on social media has reached a total of more than 2.3 million individuals, and led to over 8000 clicks to websites (mainly local tourism businesses) linked in the posts.
“I am confident that this coming summer, which right now feels like it can't come soon enough, we will once again play host to more travellers than ever from all over the world. The content partnership stands as a testament to the city's commitment to driving demand and supply for more visitors, ensuring that Cape Town remains a top destination for global travellers,” said Cape Town's MMC for Economic Growth, James Vos.
Vos highlighted the previous success of digital destination campaigns in top source markets.
“Last year, and in 2022, we ran destination campaigns in the US and European markets. In the US, the campaign saw more than 23 million impressions, surpassing reach and impressions targets by over 500% on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.”
When the campaign ran in London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, Zurich and Berlin, it received more than 25 million views, exceeding its target by three million.
According to Vos, the impact of these campaigns has been profound, contributing to the strong resurgence of inbound travel to Cape Town.
Tourist arrivals to the city via air hit 405 021 between January and April this year, exceeding the comparative 2019 figure of 350 020 by an impressive 16%. A total of 91% of these arrivals were from overseas markets.
Enhancing the VR experience
Cape Town Tourism is expanding the use of VR in its marketing strategies, building on the significant success of initiatives such as the acclaimed Find Your Freedom campaign, launched in 2022. The pioneering campaign, which used game-style graphics to allow audiences to virtually explore attractions, brought in over 5000 international bookings.
To further elevate the VR experience, the tourism board has enlisted leading global VR-tour provider Gecko Digital to create high-definition 360-degree imagery of Table Mountain, the Cape Peninsula, the Atlantic Seaboard, Chapman's Peak Drive and the Southern Suburbs.
Jacques Clarijs, South African partner for Gecko Digital, said that within four days of launching the virtual tours at WTM Africa, they had received more than 100 000 views.
“The focus has turned not just to utilising VR tours to showcase hotels, but also to take the marketing of destinations to a whole new level,” Clarijs said.
He said that despite initial reluctance from the hospitality and tourism industries to adopt the technology, the door was now wide open.
“Clients are embracing this content as the new way to go. It increases engagement time on a website and its greatest power is being able to convert interest into bookings. Having a virtual tour which you can send to agents in source markets is a powerful method of showcasing what you have to offer,” said Clarijs.
Gecko Digital has also partnered with Sun International to create VR tours of The Palace of the Lost City Hotel at Sun City and Emperors Palace in Johannesburg, and Southern Sun for a VR tour of the newly-refurbished The Cullinan in Cape Town.
Clarijs said that the tourism boards of Kenya and Tanzania were now showing interest in adopting the technology to enhance their destination marketing strategies.
