CapeTown Tourism (CTT) is launching a new brand positioning and destination marketing campaign to counter the current slump that has already seen 118 tourism businesses in the Cape close up shop in the past two years and 18 000 potential jobs lost due to lack of growth in the industry since 2007.
The campaign, to be launched formally locally in October and globally in November, is the result of a seven-month long in-depth study and broad consultations with all stakeholders, says CTT CEO, Mariëtte du Toit-Helmbold. CTT also engaged international consultant Ian MacFarlane, involved in campaigns such “100% pure New Zealand”, “Malaysia Truly Asia” and “Incredible India”. She says the new plan is flexible enough to adapt to changing market conditions. It will support the planned establishment this year of an Economic Development Agency (EDA) that is to drive long-term economic development strategy for the city and region.
Du Toit-Helmbold says research shows that Cape Town has a tourism demand problem because of a lack of knowledge about the city globally and because of the worldwide recession, not because it is too expensive as is often claimed. “Post World Cup figures found that 92% of foreign visitors said they would recommend South Africa to others and 96% said they would return. This does not suggest a fundamentally flawed product or pricing problem.”
She says South Africa after the World Cup over-relied on its natural beauty and wildlife to sell itself, while 70% of travellers now define themselves as “urban tourists”. “The world’s cities are the new tourism battleground and Cape Town probably does not induce nor receive a quantum of visitors anywhere near its potential.”
Source: SA Tourism Update
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