Wesgro and its public and private sector partners have launched several campaigns to reverse negative perceptions caused by the drought and to return Cape Town and the Western Cape to tourists’ and investors’ bucket lists, says CEO, Tim Harris.
Still to be officially launched, Harris said Wesgro and key stakeholders at all levels of government and in the tourism industry have been working on a new global marketing campaign tagged “Nowhere does it better”, to aid the province’s recovery following the drought. “This globally-focused campaign showcases the breadth and depth of various activities within the Western Cape and the proximity these are to one another,” he said.
According to Satsa, the R12m (€722 610) marketing campaign, funded jointly by Wesgro, SA Tourism (SA Tourism) and the Tourism Business Council of South Africa’s (TBCSA) Collaborative Fund, will be available to the trade to communicate to clients that the Western Cape is open for business. Satsa says the trade could use the campaign in their own marketing; and provide support for familiarisation (fam) trips.
This follows the launch in September of the #ItsAllStillHere tourism campaign, launched by Wesgro to target surf tourists and adventure travellers, deemed more resilient and environmentally conscious than average visitors, and to create a different narrative around water resources. It consists of three short, shareable videos profiling the Cape's top surfing talent, natural beauty, and world-class surf conditions. “The campaign acknowledges that although our region has suffered its worst drought in history, we've got through the crisis and our extraordinary destination is ‘all still here’, says Harris.
“In addition, a campaign was launched last month to showcase the many opportunities for investment in the Cape,” he adds. “This marketing campaign’s key objective is to instill confidence in the economy of the Cape and South Africa internationally, by showcasing the many opportunities for investment across a variety of sectors.”
Speaking at the occasion of Austrian Airlines’ return to Cape Town this week, Lufthansa GM Southern Africa, André Schulz, called on Wesgro to amplify the message that the drought in Cape Town had passed. While Wesgro statistics showed that international traffic to Cape Town had declined in April and May following negative publicity regarding Day Zero, Lufthansa did not see a huge impact on its Cape Town flights, said Schulz. He said the water shortage had received a lot of attention in the German and international media earlier this year, yet the fact that dams were now 75% full and that good rainfall was received over the winter, was not making the same headlines. He said it was important for Cape Town’s international image that the new reality was publicised internationally to counteract the earlier negative publicity.
