In 2012, the first #lovecapetown blogger hosting programme contributed to Cape Town Tourism winning a Travel + Leisure SMITTY Awards (Social Media in Travel + Tourism Awards) in the category Best Overall Use of Social Media, CVB, Global.
Whilst the bloggers have been invited to experience Cape Town by Cape Town Tourism, they are at liberty to form independent impressions about their experience whilst blogging and tweeting.
Followers of #lovecapetown will watch as the bloggers' first-hand account of Cape Town unfolds and will enjoy the opportunity to participate, even making suggestions on the way in which the itinerary is enjoyed.
The content evolving from the blog visits and social media interactions will be collated into a series of images, blogs and lists that will form a #lovecapetown mini-site (launched mid-September on www.capetown.travel/lovecapetown) that will serve as a user-generated trip research portal for Cape Town.
This year, #lovecapetown sees three international bloggers - on travel, food and design - visiting Cape Town. They will pair up with local companion bloggers from Cape Town and other parts of South Africa; living at the #lovecapetown house for the duration of their stay.
The three bloggers are from key tourism source markets for Cape Town:
Key to the success of the 2012 #lovecapetown campaign was the contribution from Capetonians as they crowd-sourced ideas for the itinerary on Twitter. This will again be a central element in the three week campaign. The local and domestic companion bloggers will guide the international blogger's experiences with a focus on sharing the undiscovered and hidden gems of Cape Town.
CEO of Cape Town Tourism, Enver Duminy, concludes; "This aspect of the #lovecapetown marketing campaign is perhaps our most organic exercise, predominantly because it is people-driven. We are the custodians of the idea and we invite the bloggers to come and experience Cape Town but beyond that the #lovecapetown community drives it forward. We feel confident that they represent Cape Town at its most authentic and dynamic and we are looking forward to seeing the conversations unfold."
Follow the hashtag #lovecapetown on Twitter or go to www.capetown.travel/site/lovecapetown.
