Cape Town Tourism one of the top 25 tourism websites in the world

Enver Duminy, CEO, Cape Town Tourism

The unmistakable dominance of digital in a marketing environment is an opportunity not to be ignored. A great website is a tool that unlocks your customers’ interest, meeting them right where they are. In travel, your goal is to inspire and delight – to provoke potential visitors into making the decision to book.

Rich content and outstanding user experience

The Cape Town Tourism website was relaunched in 2016, achieving the goal of being the first mobile-first tourism website on the continent. The purpose of that is to tap into how people are engaging with content online – primarily via mobile devices. The editors at Skift noted that the site’s user experience is outstanding, and that use of rich content such as video and tapping into global travel trends are what contribute to the site’s success.

In tourism, our power is in storytelling, and video can do this in a way that takes you into a place and offers you a sneak-peek of what to expect.

More than that, the editor noted that the Love Cape Town Neighbourhood: Langa video presented an honest reflection of what visitors could expect to experience, and that was our goal with the series. Get people travelling like locals and exploring the experiences as if you were part of the neighbourhood, meeting the community.

Video is an essential element of a digital campaign. In tourism, our power is in storytelling, and video can do this in a way that takes you into a place and offers you a sneak-peek of what to expect.

Meet your visitors before they visit

Our marketplace is very much plugged in: across all our digital assets we see the need to bring them into one place, so our large Instagram, Twitter and Facebook communities can share the #LoveCapeTown theme with their families and friends. Is there a better place to show off what we have on offer as a destination than via those communities? I’d recommend that any tourism business get cracking on developing those communities since they can put you in touch with potential visitors.

If you haven't done a Kirstenbosch summer concert, what are you waiting for? @jeremyloops rocking out on Sunday. Photo by @craighowes #lovecapetown

A post shared by lovecapetown (@lovecapetown) on Feb 8, 2017 at 12:14am PST

You could be showcasing your business – placing Maboneng Township Arts Experience in the hands of Sven in Sweden, while he is sitting in his lounge drinking coffee. Best of all, social media channels are relatively inexpensive to operate and they provide tremendous insights about who’s taking an interest.

An ever-changing environment

We recognise that travellers are restless, both in terms of wanderlust and in how they interact with you. Your website must be built to adapt according to visitor preferences that are always evolving. That way, what you’re presenting will always be fresh, exciting and inviting. You have endless opportunities to market what you love – your day-to-day experiences enjoying a destination.

Other tourism board websites that made the top 25 list include destinations such as Las Vegas, Canada, Florida, Ecuador and Geneva – the only other on the African continent to make the nod was Tanzania, so we’re in great company.