The City of Cape Town plans to use WeChat to attract more Chinese tourists.
According to James Vos, the City’s Mayco member for economic growth, the campaign will focus on building awareness of the City’s nature, history, education, culture and food offerings, as well as infrastructure and investment opportunities.
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The campaign follows similar successful initiatives run in Brazil, the USA and Europe.
‘In the wake of these campaigns, Cape Town enjoyed an excellent visitor period boasting a record number of travellers from all over the country and world,’ says Vos.
‘This resulted in significant boosts to jobs for Capetonians and the local economy. Now we are aiming even higher by further tapping into even more key source markets.’
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‘Our plan is to target various cities across China via WeChat, the biggest instant messaging and social media platform in the country,’ he adds.
‘Pre-pandemic, Chinese travellers were the highest spending globally. However, over the past decade, the arrival of Chinese travellers to South Africa has fluctuated. With this campaign, we are aiming to connect with Chinese tourists like never before.’
In 2013, about 151 000 Chinese tourists visited South Africa. However, the number fell to 83 000 the following year, and by 2019, it increased to 93 000.
As per the City, just over 34 000 Chinese tourists arrived in South Africa between January and November 2023, after the country opened its borders post-COVID.
‘China is a potentially massive market for Cape Town, so this initial campaign is a huge moment for our destination. Our messaging aims to drive awareness of Cape Town as a city of choice to visit, live, work, study, play and invest in.’
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Picture: City of Cape Town / Facebook