Cape Town Tourism (CTT) has revealed that it’s international campaign, ‘Find Your Freedom’, played a significant role in saving Cape Town's tourism industry from the adverse effects of the global pandemic.
According to CTT, the campaign's innovative, award-winning, and first-of-its-kind immersive travel experience generated R147-million in direct and indirect expenditure, and created approximately 755 employment opportunities.
“Considering arrivals at Cape Town International Airport, just over 370 000 international visitors were welcomed between January and March 2023, with March boasting a 105% recovery rate when compared to the same period in 2019.
Additionally, the Mother City welcomed close to 800 000 domestic visitors over that same period, recording a 75% recovery in March,” said CTT.
Leigh Dawber, Chief Marketing Officer at Cape Town Tourism, the City of Cape Town's official destination marketing and management organisation, said the campaign aimed to harness a choice-driven experience to strongly and aggressively drive tourism to the Mother City.
“The results of our Find Your Freedom experience far exceeded what we ever expected. The gamified interface resonated with millennials and brought over 5 000 international bookings through Expedia in a very short period, generating close to R50-million in direct expenditure,” said Dawber.
CTT said the campaign's remarkable success also contributed to the city’s accommodation recovery story with an average occupancy 85% in February, compared to 78% in February 2019, and average room rates increased to R2 567 in February this year, up from R2 026 in 2019.
“That’s a phenomenal recovery compared to the Covid-19 period, where room occupancy rates fell right down,” said CTT.
Dawber added that the campaign was successful in attracting countless visitors to the Mother City and created 248 direct employment opportunities when many were in economic turmoil following the chaos caused by Covid-19.
She said the creative experience earned Cape Town Tourism numerous global awards, from the Destination Industry Award at the International 2022 ‘X. Awards to the title of Most Viral Campaign at the Supersonic New Generation Awards, and also being recognised at the City Nation Place Awards with the highest commendation in the category of Best Communication Strategy for Tourism globally.
Dawber added that by pushing the right buttons at the right time, Cape Town Tourism was able to reignite travel to Cape Town just in time for the high season.
“We needed to be innovative in our approach to grab the interest of those wanting to travel. ‘Find Your Freedom’ has proven to be our most important, most immersive and most successful travel experience to date. But what added to this success was our brand collaborations and smart partnerships.
“By collaborating with TikTok, Expedia and exciting GoPro content creators, we managed to transform the way the Mother City is marketed and showed how innovative partnerships can help revive a tourism industry that was rocked by the pandemic,” said Dawber.
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