The greatest falling sheet of water in the world, Victoria Falls, and the single most iconic landmark of South Africa, Table Mountain, can expect an increased number of local and international visitors following the announcement of a new city partnership between recently launched tourism community of Victoria Falls, We are Victoria Falls, and Cape Town Tourism (CTT).
The partnership was announced at the founding ceremony by We are Victoria Falls Board Chair, Mrs Barbara Murasiranwa-Hughes and CTT’s Chief Marketing Officer, Leigh Dawber at the local community cornerstone the Three Monkeys Restaurant and Bar in Victoria Falls.
The relationship between the two entities, however, started in September 2022, when CTT partnered with the World Bank to host a group of Victoria Falls public and private sector stakeholders on a peer-to-peer exchange in Cape Town. The main objective was to share current destination management best practices by CTT, a globally leading DMO (Destination Marketing Organisation) with over 40 years of experience, giving advice on how to structure a successful organisation and ecosystem that supports sustainable travel.
The partnership will now mature into joint marketing initiatives that cross-promote the two destinations along the theme of ‘African Routes’ and are working with key airlines and private sector operators on a campaign that will be launched in 2023, exploring ways to inspire travel between the two destinations by sharing tourist markets and encouraging visits to both destinations.
Ms Murasiranwa-Hughes says, ‘The support and advice from CTT has not only helped inform the solid grounding we find of the DMP (Destination Marketing Partnership) we launch today, but marketing together from the onset will further support in fast-tracking our business objectives and prosperity of Victoria Falls.”
The We Are Victoria Falls announcement follows the first-ever celebrated Global Tourism Resilience Day, which, like the new DMP, emphasises the need to foster resilient tourism development through private-public cooperation, specifically in developing countries. The day, adopted as a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly, raises awareness about the importance of sustainable tourism, and how tourism is more than just a considerable source of income, but connects people with nature and spurs environmental responsibility and conservation.
Dawber concludes, “A huge congratulations to We Are Victoria Falls for bringing their vision to life as this is no small feat, and we are looking forward to collaboratively exploring ways to position and uplift tourism within an African context, by developing ways to inspire travel between our two destinations and then share any learnings and successes with the rest of the continent”.
