Showing off destination Joburg at the world travel market 2017
06 November 2017
Joburg Tourism’s marketing team is attending the annual World Travel Market in London [6 – 8 November 2017, Excel Exhibition Centre], where they will be updating industry stakeholders on forthcoming Joburg signature events and other destination marketing news.
As the destination marketing unit, one of the Joburg Tourism’s strategic objectives is to increase the number of tourists to Joburg through promoting and positioning Joburg as Africa’s premier business and leisure tourism destination of choice on all media and related marketing platforms.
World Travel Market (WTM)
Staged annually in London, World Travel Market – one of the travel industries premier, global events - is a vibrant, must attend business-to-business plafform, presenting a diverse range of destinations and industry sectors to UK and International travel professionals. It is a unique opportunity for the whole global travel trade to meet, network, negotiate and conduct business under one roof. By attending World Travel Market, participants efficiently, effectively and productively gain immediate competitive advantage for their business and stay abreast of the latest developments in the travel industry.
With the UK and Europe being one of South Africa’s significant traditional source markets, it’s important for Joburg Tourism to engage these target markets in order to:
- To increase the number of tourists to Joburg.
- To extend the length of stay of tourists.
- To increase tourist spend in the City.
- To extend the tourist geographical spread across the city.
- To level out the seasonality spread of the tourist sector
Joburg Tourism will be participating on the SA Tourism Pavilion, with the following objectives:
- Improving tourism travel trade’s knowledge and understating of Joburg.
- Exposing tourism trade media to Joburg’s product offerings to create positive rapport.
- Creating top of mind awareness of Joburg offerings as an all year round sports, fashion, lifestyle, mega events, heritage, arts and culture destination of choice in Africa.
- Initiating discussion with the trade to pursue them in signing up on Joint Marketing Agreements to promote Joburg as a destination of choice in Africa.
- Encouraging trade to include Joburg in their itinerary not only as a stop- over, but as a destination to visit and experience.
- Strengthening relations with South African Representative Offices abroad – (including embassies, SA Tourism, South African Airways) in order to position Joburg as the destination of choice for both business and leisure travel.
JOBURG UPDATE
Known for its spectacular sunsets and champagne weather, spring and summer time in Joburg offers an incredible calendar of festivals, carnivals, business, leisure and lifestyle events, leading up to the festive period.
Judging from recent rankings, listings and media exposure, there is unquestionably a positive shift in perception and sentiment towards recognising Johannesburg as a cosmopolitan, dynamic, progressive, trendy and creative city. We’ve been overwhelmed by the recent spate of accolades for the City which include:
• Being ranked as the African continent’s most visited city for the fourth consecutive year by the MasterCard Global Cities Destination Index.
• Named as the African Continent’s “New Coolest City” by Travel & Leisure magazine.
• Being named as the “most popular African city” overall for young people aged 15-to-29 in the 2015 Youthful Cities Index. Joburg beat out thriving Lagos, Nigeria; exotic Casablanca, Morocco; and tourist-popular Nairobi, Kenya. The index analyzes the perceptions of youth on 20 attributes, including creativity, employment, safety and entrepreneurship.
• Making The Australian newspaper’s list of Top 30 Destinations to visit in 2015.
• Being the only South African city to have made it onto Travel and Leisure’s 50 standout destinations for 2015.
• Johannesburg’s Maboneng Precinct named one of the World’s Coolest New Tourist Attractions in 2015 by TRAVELANDLEISURE.COM
• Taking the Rough Guide’s number one position as the Top City to visit in 2015.
• On the art scene, Johannesburg is considered to be one of the 12 Art Cities of the Future by prominent arts publisher Phaidon.
• The Wall Street Journal also tipped Johannesburg as one of the “Four Emerging Art Cities You Should Know”.
• Joburg being rated 2nd Most Inspiring City in the World, after Hong Kong, in the annual Good City Index.
“While there is plenty to look forward to across a spectrum of music, fashion, culture and sports this summer, the highlight of the 2017/8 summer season will undoubtedly be Joburg’s role as host city of Africa’s first ever Afropunk Festival,” says Rendani Khorommbi, Acting Director for Joburg Tourism.
Joburg Tourism, in partnership with Gauteng Tourism and Constitution Hill, will host the ever first International AfroPunk Festival in Joburg from 30 December 2017 to 1 January 2018 at iconic Constitution Hill.
Held over the New Year’s Eve weekend, the Johannesburg edition is expected to attract 12 000 people each day at the city’s Constitutional Hill for a fabulous line-up of performances by Solange Knowles, Anderson, Paak & The Free Nationals, King Tha, Blk Jks, Laura Mvula, The Brother Moves On, Nakhane and Spoek Mathambo, among other established and emerging artists.
It is estimated that a third of the audience will travel to Johannesburg - from Cape Town and South Africa’s Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, as well as from Kenya and Nigeria.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Afropunk to Joburg and look forward to showcasing our City as the continent’s most happening lifestyle destination to visiting music supporters and enthusiasts.”
“Signature events and leisure activities aside, tourism development continues unabated in diverse geographical nodes in Joburg,” says Khorommbi. “From Midrand to SOJO and Soweto, there is plenty on offer for a variety of tastes and special interest groups. The revitalization of the inner City is a great talking point at the moment and generating an enormous amount of interest from visitors keen for an urban tourism experience in the heart of Joburg’s “downtown” area, where Joburg sprang to life as a dusty mining camp in 1886. In addition to all the recent strides made with public transport in the City – including the Gautrain and Rea Vaya BRT – our City Sightseeing bus, launched in 2013, offers itineraries which showcase the inner City and surrounds.”
“Our ongoing local and international promotional campaigns include exhibiting at business and leisure trade exhibitions where Joburg Tourism shares its plans to maintain, defend and grow its market share,” says Khorommbi. “As the City of Johannesburg’s destination marketing organisation, Joburg Tourism remains focused on positioning the not only as the continent’s leading business hub, but also as an exciting, vibrant year-round destination for signature events, lifestyle, the arts, culture, fashion, sports – and of course, mega-events.”
“We remain confident that Joburg’s tourism economy will continue to grow and contribute significantly to the overall City economy - enabling sustainable economic growth and job creation. The festive period is also an important season in our calendar as all roads lead to Johannesburg. The current economic conditions make Johannesburg an ideal holiday destination, as it offers value for money and exciting visitor experiences - including fabulous signature events, visitor attractions, restaurants, accommodation, entertainment and nightlife. Visitors from all parts of the world can get to experience firsthand that there is more to Joburg than business,” concludes Khorommbi.