Cape Town world champ surfers launch tourism campaign!

YYesterday, Cape Town's world champ surfers Jordy Smith, Mikey February and Frank Solomon joined Wesgro to unveil the new #ItsAllStillHere tourism campaign.

The campaign - which kicks off with three short, shareable videos - profiles the Cape's top surfing talent, natural beauty, and world class surf conditions. It acknowledges that our region has suffered its worst drought in history, but shows how we've got through the crisis and that our extraordinary destination is "all still here".

Each video features an internationally acclaimed local surfer explaining their personal relationship with water, and how the recent drought affected not only them, but the province as a whole. The message across all three videos is a clear call to action: Cape Town and the Western Cape is a leading destination for responsible tourism, and adventure tourism, with some of the best surfing conditions on the planet, and is open for business.

In the films, our surf spots give a taste of our world-class attractions and scenery, and show that our breath-taking adventure tourism experiences are all still here - waiting for tourists from around South Africa and the world.

Wesgro CEO Tim Harris, commented: “As the tourism, trade and investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape, we wanted to use our most influential young ambassadors, who travel the world to surf, to remind global travellers just how special this destination is. In the films they pay homage to individual Capetonians and local businesses that took it upon themselves to change their relationship with water to get us through this challenging period.”

Harris added: ““We are immensely grateful to Jordy, Frank and Mikey who took part in the campaign free of charge. We are honoured to have such passionate international spokespeople for the city and province, who were willing to give up time between the World Surf League competitions to film with us.”

“When Frank approached us with this idea of using globally recognised local surfers to help tell the Western Cape story, we saw a great opportunity to tie in a positive message about water," commented Judy Lain, Wesgro’s Chief Marketing Officer for Tourism.

“Jordy, Frank and Mikey were the perfect ambassadors for the face of this campaign considering their achievements and extensive social media influence and reach, and passion for the province."

• Jordy Smith is hailed as South Africa’s top surfer and most successful – currently ranked fourth in the world and finishing runner-up on the World Surf League table twice. Despite being on the road to compete year round, he is locally based and a proud ambassador of Cape Town and the Western Cape.

• Frank Solomon is hugely popular and celebrated as one the Mother City’s top big wave surfers. No stranger to the camera, he’s the star of the Emmy Award-winning mockumentary ‘Let’s Be Frank’. Hailing from Hout Bay, Frank is passionate and actively involved in eco-friendly initiatives, and runs a surf project for under-privileged children.

• Mikey February, the first Cape Town surfer to make it onto the World Surf League when he joined the world's top 34 surfers on the tour this year, is already making his mark on the international circuit. He grew up surfing the waves in Cape Town and the Western Cape and his story is truly inspirational.

Instrumental to the success of the videos produced was Sledgehammer Studios – who managed to capture each surfer in their home environments despite the short run times, and Sacha Specker - a local videographer and photographer who generously provided additional footage of all 3 surfers.

Cape Town Executive Mayor Patricia de Lille said: “We live in an ever changing world and we work from the premise that the world owes us nothing. By positioning Cape Town as a digitally connected city that constantly innovates in every sector, we show our city as a place with incredible natural beauty, creative young people, and a diverse community. Tourism attracts thousands of visitors to our shores each year and showcasing a diversity of attractions will bring more growth and investment to Cape Town.”

Minister of Economic Opportunities, Alan Winde, commented: "This campaign not only highlights the scenic beauty and the amazing tourism opportunities that await visitors, but also highlights the importance of mindful and sustainable tourism and tells the story of our water resilience in a unique way. Sustainable tourism and building resilience are key to preserving our tourism industry and ensuring that it can grow to benefit the people of the Western Cape.”

Please view and share the first video launched in the series using the hashtag #ItsAllStillHere. The first video features Jordy Smith and can be viewed here.

Wesgro is funded by the Western Cape Government, the City of Cape Town and the Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT).

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Media enquiries:

Sarah Brownlee
Media Relations Officer, Wesgro
Tel:  021 487 8700
Cell:  083 577 0327
Email:  sarah@wesgro.co.za