Campaign News from Cape Town and the Western Cape
Cape Town and Western Cape tourism industry collective “Kids Stay Free” marketing campaign gets a welcomed R2 million support.
In November 2019, the Department of Home Affairs announced the scrapping of the unabridged birth certificates for foreigners traveling with children to South Africa. According to the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA), over the four years that the requirement was in place, the industry could have lost about 30% of its business.
In response to the scrapping of the regulation, the Western Cape tourism industry will be collaborating to market Cape Town and the Western Cape with the “Kids Stay Free” digital marketing campaign to help regain and regrow this valuable family market. The marketing will launch in March 2020.
The campaign intends to attract potential travellers who may have been deterred previously due to the requirement of the unabridged birth certificate and help raise awareness with families looking for a family-friendly value for money destination. By offering the kids something free, e.g., accommodation or free entry ticket, the value offer is highly attractive to families planning their next holiday.
The campaign has received welcomed financial support from the Global Marketing steering committee made up of the Western Cape Government, City of Cape Town, Wesgro, Cape Town Tourism, President Hotel, and V&A Waterfront, who have put R2 million behind the campaign, which will launch in February 2020.
This funding will support the campaign’s digital marketing efforts across review and booking platforms, TripAdvisor, and Expedia, to help drive sales for local businesses.
The white label campaign is open to all tourism businesses in Cape Town and the Western Cape. Logo free digital marketing collateral will be available for companies to add their logos and use on their existing marketing platforms and channels. There is no cost to be part of the campaign.
To participate in the campaign, please email nowherebetter@wesgro.co.za for further details.
The Kids Stay Free campaign is a collaborative approach across the public and private sectors to the marketing of Cape Town and the Western Cape. Founding members of the collective are Western Cape Government, City of Cape Town, Wesgro, Cape Town Tourism, SATSA, FEDHASA Western Cape, President Hotel, V&A Waterfront, and Tsogo Sun Hotels.
In 2018, the Western Cape tourism industry rallied behind the white label campaign, #nowherebetter, in response to the impact of the drought on local businesses. The campaign resulted in over $15 million of gross bookings. Western Cape Government, City of Cape Town, Cape Town Tourism, Wesgro, TBCSA, V&A Waterfront, President Hotel, Protea Marriot, and Cape Town Air Access financially supported this campaign, with local businesses using the free collateral across their marketing platforms to help drive the campaign message.
Issued on behalf of Wesgro:
For further media inquiries, please contact:
Judy Lain
email: judy@judylain.co.za
cell: +27 83 2772 066