Cape Town is taking its tourism pitch straight to the world’s busiest streets. The City’s This Is Cape Town campaign is now live in New York, London and parts of Europe, after an earlier rollout across African cities and Brazil.

A Campaign Built for Bookings

City officials say this is not just a visibility play. The campaign is designed to turn attention into real travel demand that feeds back into the local economy over a multi-month rollout across six continents and 55 cities.

Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth Alderman James Vos said the goal is direct: “to ensure that global attention translates into real travel demand, real spend in our local economy and real job opportunities for Capetonians”.

Taxis, Billboards and Connected TV

The City is placing the campaign in high-traffic spaces like digital billboards and public transport advertising, plus Connected TV platforms.

Two of the biggest attention-grabbers are mobile. In New York, Cape Town visuals are running on digital screens mounted on the city’s yellow taxis. In London, black cabs have been wrapped in This Is Cape Town branding. Some London cabs also carry Virgin Atlantic messaging inside, including QR codes linking to flight bookings.

Connected TV advertising has also gone live in Italy, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany, widening the European footprint.

Flights Back Up the Marketing Push

The global campaign lands alongside improved international air links. Vos said United Airlines’ direct Newark–Cape Town route has grown sharply since launching in 2019, with seat capacity projected to rise again in 2026. The City also points to a direct Washington D.C.–Cape Town route as demand builds.

On the UK side, Vos said Virgin Atlantic increased London–Cape Town flights from three per week in December 2021 to seven per week in the current peak period. Overall, Cape Town now has 28 direct flights per week between London and the city, serviced by British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Norse Atlantic Airways.

Why the City is Betting Big on it

Vos said tourism contributed R27.5 billion to Cape Town’s economy in 2024 and supported more than 106,000 jobs. The City says the next wave of activations will target China, India, the United Arab Emirates and Australia as it pushes for measurable economic gains, not just hype.