Cape Town, New York kicks off with tourism co-marketing campaign

Cape Town, New York locks in first ever city-to-city tourism partnership

24 Aug 2017

Cape Town’s many attractions will appear on 62 bus shelters and over 1,000 outdoor LINK kiosks across New York’s five boroughs, introducing US locals to what’s on offer. New York will be marketed to Capetonians via Cape Town Tourism’s mobile Visitor Information Centre that travels to events and hotspots throughout the city, a city centre digital billboard, and in Tsogo Sun’s print and TVC media.

Encouraging international tourism is essential

The tourism fraternity continues to promote tourism internationally while cautioning that saving water is essential.

Cape Town Tourism CEO, Enver Duminy has eagerly awaited the live launch of the campaign: “This is groundbreaking for us, it’s the first time New York City has partnered with anyone on the African continent. The synergy between the two cities is remarkable, and this is the result of many years of relationship-building. Encouraging international tourism is essential, especially during this water crisis, since the contribution those visitors make to the economy allows for sustainability in employment and for infrastructural improvements to the city. We simply ask that all locals and visitors concentrate their efforts on saving water. We’re anticipating that this will introduce many New Yorkers to Cape Town as the Gateway to Africa, with all this wonderful continent has to offer.”

Tourism in Cape Town contributed almost R15bn to the local economy as a result of the active work of almost 50,000 tourism employees (directly and indirectly) - according to the economic study conducted by Grant Thornton.

“We are proud to kick off the second phase of our city-to-city tourism partnership with Cape Town – our first partnership with a city in Africa – with the launch of dynamic advertisements across both destinations. There are more reasons than ever to visit New York City, and we look forward to welcoming even more Capetonians in the months and years to come,” said Fred Dixon, president and CEO, NYC & Company

Besides the two tourism organisations, the campaign is being run in partnership with Tsogo Sun, South African Airways and SA Tourism, further boosting marketing capacity.