South Africa's Cape Town eyes Chinese travel market with expanded digital push
- China Trading Desk
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
By huaxia
Published November 21, 2025
Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa, is ramping up efforts to capture a greater share of the booming Chinese outbound travel market after its initial digital marketing campaigns reached millions across Asia, the city government announced on Friday.
In a statement, the government said its first two phases of destination marketing on WeChat, China's dominant social media and messaging platform, generated more than 20 million impressions between September 2024 and October 2025.
The campaign comes as Chinese travelers remain the world's top spenders. Data from the United Nations World Tourism Organization showed that in 2024, they spent roughly 250 billion U.S. dollars abroad, far outpacing U.S. travelers at 177.8 billion dollars.
Alderman James Vos, Cape Town's mayoral committee member for economic growth, said after returning from a trade mission to Shanghai that strengthening Cape Town's visibility in China could be transformative for the local tourism economy.
He noted, however, that South Africa welcomed only 41,651 Chinese visitors in 2024, a small fraction of the approximately 100 million outbound travelers from China that year, adding that the strong performance of the pilot digital campaign underscored the latent potential in the market.
Cape Town plans to expand its Chinese-language content, including articles, brochures, and destination videos, onto additional major platforms. Officials said the strategy aligns with research from China Trading Desk, a marketing and research firm specializing in Chinese consumers, which has found that Chinese outbound travelers rely heavily on social media for inspiration and trustworthy travel advice.