wesgro: western cape tourism marketing plan 2014/2015

An inspiring place to discover

tourism strategy 2014/2015

Judy Lain

Chief Marketing Officer

presentation structure

• Introduction

• Guiding marketing principles

• Key objective

• Brand

• Markets

• International

• Domestic

• Events

• Cape Town & Western Cape Convention Bureau

• Wesgro Film Promotion

• Wesgro Research

• Digital and social media

• CRM database

• World Design Capital 2014



introduction

introduction

The following presentation is for the purpose of our partners within the Western Cape

Tourism sector to get an overview of how Wesgro will be approaching the marketing of

the province for the next financial year (April 2014 – March 2015).

The past few months have been of great introspection and interrogation for us. We

have spent time reviewing what we have been doing for the past few years, and what

we need to change to meet the dynamic and highly competitive world of tourism. Our

purpose is to drive numbers (increase in visitors), value (increase in spend and bed

nights) and identify opportunities to decrease the low numbers around seasonality.

Our ultimate goal is to create more jobs and drive economic development within the

province that we call home. Wesgro houses destination marketing, convention

bureau, film promotion, trade and investment promotion, which means we have the

ability to cross sell across all our units and drive business in the Western Cape

This presentation is the property of Wesgro, the official tourism, trade and investment

promotion agency for the Western Cape.

Judy Lain, Chief Marketing Officer


guiding marketing principles

guiding marketing principles

The guiding marketing principles for our marketing plan are as follows:

1. Our role is to market the Western Cape as an inspiring place to discover

throughout the year

2. To focus on both source and emerging markets that will show positive growth over

the next few years (numbers and value)

3. To have measurable deliverables in place and show return on investment for

money spent

4. Provide as much marketing support as possible to our regions

5. Develop communication based on research, insights and trends

6. Align our internal units effectively : Destination Marketing, Convention Bureau, Film

Promotion, Trade and Investment Promotion and others such as Cape Craft

Design Institute

7. Leverage digital and social media to drive the awareness of the province



key objective

key objective


To drive feet through the door, be it the….

• …airplane door

• …accommodation door

• …experience door

• ....car rental door

• …retail door

• ….all doors relating to tourism in the Western Cape


brand platform

brand essence pyramid


brand architecture

We have develop a font that is truly unique to the Western Cape, with the vibrancy and

inspiration always coming through on the west (left hand side of the font).

Any of the regions, local tourism bodies and towns are welcome to use this font for

their logo. We will develop the logo for you and supply it free of charge. However

there are strict brand guidelines that need to be adhered to, to ensure consistency. As

consistency ensures that we feel like one, which is much stronger from a marketing

perspective.

On the following slide, you can see an example of how the brand architecture works.


provincial level

an inspiring place to discover

regional level

local level

town level

tone

We are going to leverage the art of storytelling to build a brand story, an audience, an

emotional connection and bring to life the culture behind the communities, the regions,

the towns, the experiences and the events that are part of our province.

By using a person to tell an authentic story about a place or experience makes it more

engaging, inspiring and memorable. We encourage you to think about this when doing

your communication. Who can tell your story?

Everyone that tells a story about us, the Western Cape, is our brand ambassador,

regardless if they are famous or just a visitor.



markets

source of visitors


57.40%

40.30%

1% 1.30%

2012 Share of Visitors

Domestic Overseas Africa No response

Visitor trends indicate a clear distinction in travel

patterns among the overseas and domestic

market. An influx of overseas visitors was

received across quarters one and four

(summer/peak season), while domestic visitors

dominated across the quarter two and three

(winter/off peak season).

(Source: Wesgro Research Publication: 2012

Annual Western Cape Tourism Trends)

http://wesgro.co.za/publications/publication-

directory

http://wesgro.co.za/publications/publication-directory

international markets

To drive awareness in the global market and position the Western Cape, we are taking

the following steps:


Step 1:

Country Selection

Step 2:

Trade body and product input

Step 3:

Research (trade and tourist)

Step 4:

Development of tourism

platforms

Step 5:

Marketing

Step 6:

Monitor and evaluate


country selection

country selection

We have taken every country in the world and put them through four filters:

Filter 1: Decision Support Model

Proprietary tool of North West University’s TRADE research team. The model is used

to identify realistic trade opportunities for countries, provinces and industry sectors in

the form of high-potential product-market combinations including tourism.

Filter 2: Year on Year Growth

Year of Year Growth for the past three years with regards to international tourists into

South Africa and the Western Cape


country selection

Filter 3: South African Tourism

The Marketing Tourism Growth Strategy for South Africa by South African Tourism

Filter 4: Sense Check

We ran the data past various stakeholders for input to sense check based on their

market knowledge and experience.

Market Selection:

• United States of America

• Nigeria, Ghana and Angola

• United Kingdom, Germany, France

• Russia

• India

• China, Japan, Korea, Singapore

• Australia, New Zealand


trade body and product input

We have extended an invite out to the trade bodies to invite their members to a think

tank to discuss this country selection, identify alignments and leverage collaborative

insights, learnings and opportunities.

research

In-country research will be done via the following channels:

Traveller:

• Through social media, digital platforms, SAT and embassies we will gain a better

insight with regards to who the traveller is, what are the barriers to them travelling

to the Western Cape (for e.g. long haul, seasonality, safety) and find ways to

remove these barriers

Tour Operator:

• How is their business changing, and how can we assist through the provision of

content, tourism platforms, air access, visas etc to help support high volume, high

value tourists throughout the year?


development of tourism platforms

The Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT) will take this market

intelligence gathered through the research and assist in removing barriers (where

possible) and develop tourism platforms to meet the growing demands and needs of

tourists.


marketing

Marketing to the international market can happen through various channels. Channel

selection, key messaging and content will be based on the what we learn through our

research.

Channels could include:

• Trade shows

• We have taken a decision to no longer attend the old format large scale

exhibitions but rather focus on more focussed, strategically aligned road

shows with product. Final list to be confirmed once market research complete

• Media

• Educational, joint marketing agreements, provision of content etc with

selected media from countries selected

• Digital channels

• We are in the process on investigating which digital platforms for e.g. bing,

WeChat are best to reach the market in selected countries


monitor and evaluate

Each marketing activity will be monitored and evaluated to measure its effectiveness

and return of investment to see if what we have done has really driven feet through

the door.

Post campaign reports will be put together, and shared with interested parties.


working exampleHerewith an example of how this process can work


Step Source of Data / Support / Partnerships Outcome

Market selection Four Filter System Japan

Trade body and private sector

input

Think Tank and engagements Positive growth shown across

all products

Research SAT

Online engagements and surveys

Embassies (South Africa and Japan)

Private Sector

Tour Operators

Older female market

Avid bird watchers

High value (length of stay,

accommodation selected and

spend)

Will travel in our winter

Development of Tourism

Platforms

Research, DEDAT Development of bird huts

Marketing Wesgro (digital, content marketing, social

media platforms, partnerships)

Private Sector (Consumer to Business)

Tour Operators (Business to Consumer)

Western Cape Birding

Sanparks

Cape Nature

Partnership with Western Cape

Birding and Birding Forum in

Japan to do a targeted

campaign to reach these

tourists, along with itinerary

development

Monitor and evaluate the process Engagement with campaign

Increase in visits to birding huts


domestic market

domestic market

The objective of our domestic marketing strategy is to ignite the passion in all South

Africa’s to travel domestically, by taking affordable weekend getaways, in support of

SAT’s domestic marketing campaign for 2014.

Not only do we want people from the other provinces to visit us, but we want to get

people within the Western Cape to travel between regions and discover the

uniqueness and beauty we have.

We will do this by showcasing hidden gems, regional events and niche tourism

experiences and affordable offers across all our regions.


domestic market

We have developed a 12-month marketing programme, with each region having a

month dedicated to them. The Wesgro team will visit each region with the relevant

regional or local tourism body a month or two before their campaign month. Our team

will be tasked to find the hidden gems, events and experiences that are unique to each

area. This content will then be used to develop digital and social media campaigns

that will help drive awareness domestically.

This content will also be tailor made for our international market where applicable.

Not only that, we are also doing campaigns around niche tourism themes,

educational’s with tour operators, private sector and media, marketing and event

support for regional events, while working closely with SMME’s.


Month Region Theme Educational Events SMME’s

April Avi-tourism & nature

with Sanparks and

Cape Nature

Old Mutual Two

Oceans Marathon

X

May Cape Karoo GHFM and Route 62

(Live broadcast)

Regional event X

June Cape Garden Route

and Klein Karoo

Regional event X

July Cape Winelands Pick n Pay Knysna

Oyster Festival

X

August Cape Overberg Cape West Coast Regional event X

September Cape West Coast Tourism Month Loeries X

October Wine and Cuisine Volvo Ocean Yacht

Race

X

November Cape Winelands and

Cape Town

Regional events X

December Cape Town X

January Culture and Music J&B Met,

Franschhoek Harvest

Festival

X

February Biking (MTB and

Road)

Cape Overberg CT Carnival, Cape

Argus PnP Cycle

Tour, ABSA Cape

Epic, CT Jazz,

Design Indaba

X

March Aqua-tourism X


events

events

Whether it is a regional event, or major event, events in general have the capacity to

showcase our people and towns/city on a global stage.

Events can drive visitor numbers, generate increased spend and also provide

platforms for the visitor to interact with the local culture, local people and explore our

scenic landscapes and towns.

Going forward we are going to put more focus and resource on the marketing of the

regional and major events to:

• help drive tickets sales (where applicable) or visitor numbers

• provide content and itineraries to help increase bed nights and spread across the

province pre / post event

All events that we support will feature on our new event portal that we are in the

process of developing on our new website, but any event within the province may also

feature, free of charge, on our events portal. Data forms will be on the new website for

event organisers to fill in.


major events

The major events include:

• Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon

• Pick n Pick Knysna Oyster Festival

• Loeries

• The J&B Met

• Design Indaba

• Cape Town Carnival

• ABSA Cape Epic

• Cape Town International Jazz Festival

• Volvo Ocean Yacht Race

They offer us a great story to tell in the overseas markets and we have started the

process of working with the event organisers to see how better we can work together

and market these events internationally to drive visitor numbers to the province.


regional events

Regional events, have the opportunity to help drive an increase in domestic visitor

numbers over the traditionally quiet winter time. These events also have a very

important role in showcasing the uniqueness of their town / area, their culture and their

people.

We have also simplified the application process for funding for the regional events.

Step 1: Events are to fill in the new application form (these have been supplied to all

regional tourism organisations)

Step 2: Event to submit form to RTO for selection (submission date to be obtained

directly from RTO)

Step 3: RTO to submit selection to Wesgro by 28th February 2014

Step 4: Wesgro will inform RTO by 31st March 2014 what events we are able to

support, along with a proposal of how we will support both financially and

non-financially An inspiring place to discover

cape town & western cape convention bureau

We will continue to leverage our BestCities Global Alliance and partnerships with trade

bodies and private sector to continue driving the highly lucrative business events

sector for Cape Town and the Western Cape.

We will also look at cross marketing opportunities with the destination marketing, trade

and investment promotion teams when they go in-market.

The services and support offered by the business unit include:

• Bid assistance including bid book production

• Convention planning support

• Delegate boosting

• Provision of destination marketing material

• Incentive meeting support

• Corporate meeting support

• Exhibition support

• BestCities Global Alliance network introduction


wesgro film promotion

Cape Town and the Western Cape offers international film makers the best of

everything, from a wide variety of locations within two hours of the city centre to our

world class infrastructure and talent.

Our Film Promotion team, will work in partnership with our destination marketing team

with marketing the province as a world class destination for film.

Projects include (but not limited to):

• Familiarisation hosting trips for film executives with regards to locations and

infrastructure

• Participation in international film exhibitions and festivals

• Creation of maps / itineraries showcasing film locations from movies shot in our

province

• Destination marketing material

• Marketing campaigns around films that have been shot in the province


wesgro research

Our team of economists that form the Wesgro Research Business Unit work incredibly

closely with the tourism team to assist us in market selection, stats, trend analysis etc.

We are in the process of developing on online portal and we will be encouraging

products, regions and towns across the province to partner with us. The objective of

this portal is to gather data with regards to occupancy rates, room rates, visitor

numbers, reasons for visit, needs etc and convert this into usable and valuable reports

for you to use in your business and marketing plans.



digital and social media

website (www.discover-ctwc.co.za)

We are changing our URL from www.tourismcapetown.co.za to www.discover-

ctwc.co.za) to help lesson the confusion between our site and Tourism CapeTown’s

website.

We are also in the process of rebuilding our website, to make it more functional, the

consumer journey better, more interactive (for e.g. audio road trip of Cape to Namibia

route or plan your holiday function), more visuals, more videos less copy etc.

This will also allow us the opportunity to assist smaller towns who are unable to have a

website due to resource limitations as we will develop a page for them built into our

website. It will also allows us to link more effectively with regions and towns that have

highly effectively and successful websites.

We are also understanding the new approach to SEO and how best to build around

these new parameters.


http://www.discover-ctwc.co.za/

http://www.tourismcapetown.co.za/

http://www.discover-ctwc.co.za/

social media

Our three major platforms are:

• Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TourismCapeTown?fref=ts)

• Twitter (https://twitter.com/TourismCapeTown)

• LinkedIn (Group: Cape Town & Western Cape Destination Markting)

We will continue to leverage, build, amplify and improve how we use social media to

drive awareness of the Western Cape.


https://www.facebook.com/TourismCapeTown?fref=ts

https://twitter.com/TourismCapeTown


crm programme

crm programme

We are also in the process of cleaning up the Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU)

and Wesgro databases, inputting them into a CRM system, and then to start

developing bespoke, effective content marketing and engagement campaigns with our

database.

The database is made up of:

• regional and local tourism bodies

• private sector

• trade

• media

• consumer (which we will develop from our digital and social media platforms)



world design capital 2014

world design capital 2014

Across all our marketing platforms, especially those in the

international markets, we are doing an awareness drive

around World Design Capital 2014.

We have developed itineraries for the international markets

bringing design to life for example in craft beer route, the art of wine making route,

culture and art across all our regions.


Thank you | Dankie | Enkosi