The City’s Economic Growth Directorate this week shared details of a new international destination campaign that will kick off ahead of the upcoming summer visitor season.
‘Today, I am excited about the City partnering with Norse Atlantic Airways on a campaign to promote their inaugural London-Cape Town flights commencing on 28 October. As part of the partnership, our ‘Choose Cape Town’ marketing material hits the streets of London where it will cover 40 of the English capital’s famous black cabs for the month of November, strategically aligning with World Travel Market London, the biggest global travel show, which takes place from 5 to 7 November.
‘Imagine this: You’re in one of the busiest cities in the world, and a sleek black cab wrapped in Cape Town’s vibrant imagery passes by, encouraging you to book your next adventure. It’s a visual reminder of the unmatched experiences Cape Town offers, from ocean safaris to urban culture and investment opportunities. Once passengers hop into the cab, they will see further branding inside with a QR code that will take them directly to a booking platform to secure a Norse Atlantic Airways flight to Cape Town. To make it even more enticing, Norse is working on a special offer for flights booked through the code. Details for this will be confirmed by the airline. This makes it the first campaign where we actually have a direct conversion mechanism attached via the Norse flights,’ said Alderman James Vos, the Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth.
‘We are excited to take part in this campaign to promote travel to Cape Town. Since launching ticket sales for this new route, it has quickly become one of our most popular destinations. By directly targeting keen explorers with this engaging partnership with look forward to spreading the news of our new route and excellent value fares to a wider audience,’ said Bård Nordhagen, Chief Commercial Officer Norse Atlantic Airways.
The agreement follows the announcement by Norse Atlantic Airways of thrice-weekly flights between London Gatwick Airport and Cape Town International Airport from 28 October for the duration of the peak season.
‘This aligns with our strategy of expanding flights as part of the City’s five-point tourism action plan. This plan, which involves the collaboration of key partners, has already brought remarkable results, including the addition of more flights from key markets in Europe, the U.S., Africa, and South America,’ said Alderman Vos.
The cabs will also bear the City’s new international logo, which Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said was a global-facing representation of the vibrancy of Cape Town.
‘With millions of eyes on Cape Town at big-ticket events, there was a need for an easily recognisable brand for the city. This logo will be seen throughout the world at sports events, conferences, on all our campaigns and marketing material, and international billboards and TV screens. As we promote Cape Town as a place where global citizens can live, work and play, the logo will become synonymous with this, our City of Hope. It is bold, vibrant and unmistakably Cape Town, with our iconic Table Mountain running through the typeface, inviting visitors to come experience our incredible city,’ said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
Also unveiled at the event was Volume 3 of the This Is Cape Town magazine and the revamped This Is Cape Town website.
‘These platforms are essential in showcasing this city as the ideal destination to visit, live, work, study, play and invest. The third edition of the magazine follows the incredible success of the first two which has seen more than 150 000 online page views. Meanwhile, Kenya Airways continues to distribute the print magazine to their business class clients travelling to over 40 cities around the world. We are exploring more distribution channels to continuously grow our footprint,’ said Alderman Vos.
Through the targeted content campaigns, more than 25 million people across the globe have been reached.
The destination marketing plays a key role in the five-point plan to grow Cape Town’s tourism industry. It is the pillar which precedes the other points, namely, expanding flight routes, growing our cruise destination profile, securing increased conferences and events, and supporting local businesses to develop quality, authentic, and unique products and services in Cape Town’s communities,’ said Alderman Vos.
‘We are standing at the threshold of a new era for Cape Town’s tourism industry. Every initiative we launch today is about unlocking potential, not just for our city but for the people of Cape Town. Last year, tourism employed more than 91 000 Capetonians. We have a long way to go in terms of forging more avenues of opportunity for our residents, and if we keep pushing like we have been and continue to focus on these key areas, we can create a tourism-related job in every household across the city. It’s an ambitious goal, but one that we can achieve by working together,’ said Alderman Vos.
