Alderman James Vos, the mayoral committee member for economic growth, has unveiled the City’s strategy to launch an extensive digital travel campaign in Brazil. This initiative aims to generate excitement and anticipation leading up to the launch of the first-ever direct flight between São Paulo and Cape Town.
Alderman Vos revealed that the campaign’s success in the United States, with over 23 million impressions on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, exceeding targets by more than 500%, served as the impetus for its activation in Brazil.
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Previously, the campaign achieved remarkable results in several European cities, including London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, Zurich and Berlin. Garnering more than 25 million views and surpassing its target by three million, the campaign effectively showcased the allure of Cape Town as a tourist destination.
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‘This is one of the measures we use to push demand from key source markets that leads to increased bookings. Between January and April 2023, we saw inbound travel from these markets surpass the figures seen for the same period in 2019. UK air passengers recovered to 104% of the January to April 2019 numbers; Germany hit 106%; the Netherlands recovered to 116%; and the USA reached an incredible 155%. Our aim with taking this campaign to Brazil is to encourage such positive sentiment that converts into bookings,’ explained Alderman Vos.
The decision to implement this campaign aligns with the recent announcement of forthcoming direct flights between Cape Town and São Paulo, operated by South African Airways (SAA), commencing on 31 October 2023.
Earlier this year, Alderman Vos, along with Cape Town Tourism CEO Enver Duminy, engaged with various airline executives, tourism bodies and investment agencies in Brazil to present the unique value proposition and attractions of Cape Town.
The objective was to secure a direct flight connection that would facilitate easy access between the two regions. Brazil holds significant importance as South Africa’s largest trading partner in Latin America, making it a vital market for tourism growth.
‘Our Air Access team in Wesgro has been engaging with aviation stakeholders over a long period of time to prepare the route. Brazil is South Africa’s biggest trading partner in Latin America and in terms of tourism. With this new direct flight, we will firm up relations between our two regions, boost trade and bring more South American tourists to Cape Town, which will benefit our city’s economy and work towards our goal of creating a tourism-related job in every household,’ emphasised Alderman Vos.
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With the imminent launch of this route, the focus will shift to sustaining its success and intensifying destination marketing efforts to entice more South American travellers to explore Cape Town.
Alderman Vos expressed his satisfaction with the confirmed flight and affirmed his commitment to continue working towards establishing further connectivity between Cape Town and other key source markets.
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