South African Tourism has partnered with Netflix to promote the country’s tourism sites in key source markets.
The partnership will see ‘must-visit’ sites being highlighted in several locally produced Netflix programmes.
Since the global streaming service launched in South Africa in 2016, Netflix has invested in original and licensed locally made content. The service is available to 204 million members in 190 countries and showcases South African culture, fashion, music, art, scenery and languages through stories made in South Africa by local and international creators.
Examples of South African Netflix original series include Queen Sono, Blood & Water, How To Ruin Christmas: The Wedding, and Kings of Joburg. Netflix has also showcased the South African film Seriously Single and the Oscar-nominated nature documentary, My Octopus Teacher.
Netflix has also brought stories from other parts of the world that were filmed in South Africa, with films such as Holiday in the Wild and Last Days of American Crime, and global Netflix series, Sacred Games, The Crown, Black Mirror and Kissing Booth 1 and 2.
“As we continue to lure the world to our beautiful country in these trying times, we have to look at non-traditional tourism partnerships as a source of driving arrivals. Netflix reaches millions of eyeballs globally, and by working closely with Netflix, we are able to latch on to a massive opportunity to influence the audience to think more closely about South Africa and thus convincing them to visit our country,” says Sisa Ntshona, ceo of SA Tourism.
“We have 11 global country offices and there will always be opportunities for our international offices in key source markets to latch on to opportunities to showcase South Africa through the Netflix launch.”
Netflix director of content in Africa, Ben Amadasun, says 204 million viewers connected with new worlds through stories from South Africa and across the globe during the pandemic.
“Storytelling is a powerful tool that can foster connection and understanding while creating greater affinity towards a culture or place. That’s a big responsibility, and at Netflix we don’t take that lightly. It’s why we value this important collaboration with SA Tourism, as it will help us create more opportunities to support local creatives as they showcase the beauty of South Africa through their stories delivered to millions of entertainment fans around the world on Netflix,” he says.
SA Tourism has also partnered with Google Arts and Culture (GAC) to launch South Africa: An Explorer's Paradise, an online exhibition where visitors from around the world can explore South Africa through a collection of 500 images and videos, 55 Street Views and 20 digital stories.
Click HERE to view the exhibition.
