SA Tourism goes Instagram

South African Tourism has launched its #MeetSouthAfrica campaign on Instagram, aiming to share the experience of South Africa through the eyes of all local residents.

Instagram has shown dramatic growth rates as one of the top-rated mobile apps for photo sharing with over 1-million users in South Africa alone since its launch in 2010 and 150-million active monthly users. Over 55-million photos are shared instantly and simply on a daily basis. South Africa has also been featured on more than one occasion on Instagram’s brand blog as a country that has users with a large following.

Using well-known South African Instagram users as ambassadors, South African Tourism hopes to develop a loyal following of users of the mobile photo-sharing app that will help share the experiences that lie in wait for traveller’s coming to South Africa. With a following of 90 000 strong on Instagram, renowned photographer, Gareth Pon (@GarethPon) will be assisting to launch the @MeetSouthAfrica account by being the first to post a picture. As the first ambassador on the account, Gareth will post images throughout the week, whereafter images will be posted by various other South Africans. “Showing our South Africa through the eyes of our people will help us connect our destination with potential travellers who are dreaming about their next holiday destination,”” says Jan Hutton, Chief Marketing Officer at South African Tourism. “”We want to show the world the beauty of our architecture, the quirkiness of our culture and the authenticity of our citizens through a unique set of photographs.”” The social media account will depict South Africa and its diverse lifestyle offering through artists, musicians, photographers, tour guides, architects and the general public of Mzansi. The eclectic mix of ambassadors going forward will bring to the fore South Africa’s contemporary lifestyle and attractions, beyond the experiences that South Africa is already renowned for. Make sure to follow @MeetSouthAfrica on Instagram to catch what South African Tourism and the selected ambassadors are up to.

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