#ShareTheBay campaign a success, says metro
The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality’s tourism department has hailed the #ShareTheBay campaign as a success.
Acting city manager Anele Qaba said the metro was grateful for the contribution of celebrities, who included South African and international influencers.
Qaba’s statement followed a debate on the effectiveness of the campaign on Twitter, with some people arguing that the city should have used homegrown influencers instead.
But Qaba said the campaign had social media platforms buzzing with images.
“Through this collaboration with the industry, we were able to put together an itinerary that was attractive enough to encourage a group of celebrities to explore our destination and #ShareTheBay with us without having to compensate them,” Qaba said.
“The city’s only request was for them to come here on holiday and experience the city’s tourism experiences and post content while they were here.
“They could have said ‘no’, or asked us for payment as they come with a high price tag, but they didn’t and on that we are grateful,” he said.
He said the campaign, which roped in 12 celebrities, had yielded more than R46m in value.
Qaba said the city did not force people to use Bay tourism’s tag lines.
“We host different types of influencers throughout the year, local and international media, travel bloggers, trade and other influencers, in exactly the same way we hosted these celebrities.
“They provide a sample of what this city offers in order to get their readers/followers to buy into it.
“We allow the writers to write their own content and tell our stories through their eyes and do not force them to write what we want or to use our tag lines,” he said.
The celebrities comprised Linda Moeketsi, Allana Foster, Katlego Selekane, Babalwa Mneno, Sincerely Ward, Chanita Foster, Tumi Mohale, Khanyi Mbau, Tebogo Lerole, Cassper Nyovest and Carpo.
Their itinerary included an art experience with Joff at Werk though Awheness Travel, enjoying a rum-tasting courtesy of Rhino Rum, a cocktail function at No5 by Mantis, spotting a whale on an ocean safari with Raggy Charters, aerial views of Cape Recife on board a helicopter trip with Heli-pilot and having lunch at Something Good.
The team then went to experience the Big Five at the Addo Elephant National Park and spotting a lion on a game drive at Riverbend Lodge. They also walked with giraffes at the Bellevue Forest Reserve.
Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism marketing co-ordinator Erenei Louw said the celebrities had created 92 content items on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook and generated 554,094 engagements in the form of likes and comments.
“To date, there are currently 39,370 images under the #ShareTheBay hashtag.
“That is 39,370 images representing the best of the Bay through the eyes of locals, domestic visitors, foreign tourists, photographers, influencers, teens, students, young adults, parents, and yes, even grandparents,” Louw said.
He said the images told the stories of people from the Bay, their heritage and architecture as well as the beauty of the natural environment.
Photos shared using the hashtag will be entered into a photographic exhibition at the Donkin Lighthouse.
The exhibition is on display in September.
The category and overall winner will be chosen in partnership with The Herald, which is running a voting campaign on its website.
The winner will be announced on September 27.
Louw said the campaign also hoped to: encourage domestic and local travel especially to Nelson Mandela Bay; create awareness of the quality product offerings in the metro; strengthen communication and partnerships between the municipality (tourism), private tourism products and stakeholders; obtain quality media coverage for the destination; create awareness with the aim of increasing bookings, spend, and length of stay; and create awareness of the destination tourism brand, with Summer Season plans being top of mind.
Louw said most sponsors had given positive feedback.
He said Riverbend Lodge general manager Debbie Carinus said the partnerships had shone a spotlight on the province.
Loodt Buchner of Bellevue Forest Reserve said it appreciated the exposure.
“It gave us excellent exposure on social media, and we have had just good responses from their visit.
“We would love to take part in this event again in future and couldn’t thank the event organisers enough for what they did for us,” Buchner said. This article is in partnership with Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism. For more information, visit www.nmbt.co.za