Those of us who live in Cape Town know that this statement is true, but can Cape Town Tourism convey this new marketing strategy to the world and encourage more people to come and find it out for themselves?

This is what the new global marketing campaign, revealed by Cape Town Tourism CEO Mariëtte du Toit-Helmbold on 17 October, sets out to do. The campaign encapsulates the essence of every facet of what Cape Town holidays have to offer, from tourism to design, business and studies, to the rich diversity of people and nature.

“Global best practice shows that the demand problem will be addressed if we retain most of our existing successful initiatives, but overlay them on a compelling global marketing and communications campaign, a campaign which takes Cape Town to the world in a bold and comprehensive manner.” 

Read more – there’s plenty more where that came from, but what does it mean? Marketing a city is complicated; cities are becoming ‘super brands’ in themselves and as du Toit-Helmbold says, “The world’s cities are the new tourism battleground. The marketing campaign offers inspirational Cape Town as the antidote to an uncertain and changing world – an urban elixir, if you will … take a good dose of the tonic and although we can’t promise what you will find, we can promise that you will find your better self.”

I like that. It appeals to the self in me that could benefit from an elixir. All we have to do now is let the world in on our secret. To get an idea of what that is, take a look at the I Love Cape Town images on Facebook (trust us the weather’s great). And if you already love Cape Town, vote for Table Mountain to be one of the new 7 Wonders of Nature.