At the Cape Town Tourism AGM, its CEO Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, stated "Cities are the new brands." She was talking about creating a strong brand for Cape Town in the post-2010 FIFA World Cup vacuum, a view endorsed by international guest speaker and destination marketing expert Claes Bjerkne, who said Cape Town would be the ideal master brand, as it is one of the better known cities of the world. Prime examples of other City brands include London, Paris, San Francisco and Beijing. Under the theme 'Imagine Cape Town in 2020,' Du Toit-Helmbold stressed that the marketing of tourism must remain apolitical, driven by the private sector and supported by government.
