Cape Town Tourism launches landmark immersive travel experience
Cape Town Tourism has launched its most important initiative to date – the landmark Find Your Freedom immersive travel experience. The interactive interface uses game-style graphics to empower global travellers to choose their Mother City adventure, based on the guide they identify with – the Fearless Foodie, Nature Warrior, or Urban Adventurer. It’s a first-of-its-kind concept from the leading destination marketing organisation.
Enver Duminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism, says, “Find Your Freedom uses the latest digital technology to immerse viewers in unique Cape Town choice-driven video experiences. You choose your guide. You choose your adventure. It’s an interactive journey from start to finish.”
It's fast-paced, captivating and unlike anything any other destination marketing organisation worldwide is doing. Alderman James Vos, City of Cape Town's Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, says, “Our goal is to fuel faster recovery in the visitor economy. Following the pandemic, people worldwide are itching to explore, do more, and reclaim that sense of purpose. We want to encourage individuals in our key source markets to jump on a plane and come to Cape Town to find their freedom. This new campaign really hits the mark not just in terms of being something original and fun, but most importantly, being enticing enough, I believe, to result in actual bookings.”
Hosted on the Cape Town Tourism website, visitors are welcomed into an immersive world by an enchanted African story-teller, who urges them to choose their guide. All characters are designed to be visually striking, in gaming-inspired, Afro-futurist graphics. Once they select the Fearless Foodie, Nature Warrior or Urban Adventurer, the viewer is taken down a rabbit hole of rapid videos, showcasing some of the best offerings linked to their interests. For example, a fearless foodie will ‘visit’ La Colombe, watch an aunty fold samosas in the Bo Kaap, and dive into steampunk scenes at Truth Coffee.
The fact that viewers get to make their own choices is the cornerstone of the campaign and very current with international trends. Leigh Dawber, Chief Marketing Officer at Cape Town Tourism, says, “With the creeping onset of the metaverse, choice will continue to govern virtual experiences that feel ever more real. In this campaign, we’ve combined real-life footage of Cape Town with whimsical CGI touches.”
This method of putting the user in charge increases engagement. Dawber adds, “Many of us remember those iconic Choose Your Own Adventure childhood books. This campaign works in a similar way. It’s innovative and inspiring. It lets you dictate how you explore our beautiful city. Millennials, especially, have a keen sense of adventure and desire to travel with purpose. Our aim is to appeal to this. The more personalised you can make your experience of the Mother City, the more likely you are to plan the trip of a lifetime.”
The Find Your Freedom immersive travel experience also leans on the idea of co-creation. Cape Town Tourism is working with GoPro Global, where six international ambassadors will share what ‘Find Your Freedom’ in Cape Town means through their lens. Dawber says, “The idea with this initiative is to delve into a different kind of storytelling. This partnership will see these renowned creatives share their stories, their way.”
Cape Town Tourism is also partnering with Expedia on conversion, enabling visitors to effortlessly book and enjoy special travel packages and discounts.
Ultimately, Find Your Freedom works to restore confidence in Cape Town, which suffered greatly from the global travel bans over the past two years. Consistently called one of the world’s best and most beautiful destinations, the Mother City really does have something for everyone.
Duminy concludes, “Cape Town represents freedom for all and now’s the time to find your freedom!”
