African Sabre award for Weber Shandwick
The Weber Shandwick team in Johannesburg won the Crisis/Issues Management category at this year’s African SABRE Awards, for the Cape Town Water Emergency: from Crisis to Opportunity campaign for South African Tourism.
The widely reported Western Cape drought situation that took hold in January 2018 resulted in a slew of cancelled travel reservations and a drastic fall in international bookings. Cape Town is the most popular tourist destination in the country and when it was identified as the first major global city to potentially run out of water, the story hit hard and had the potential to affect the entire economy. The campaign shifted the narrative, positioning the province and Cape Town as a sustainable tourism destination, with a strong focus on water resilience and responsible tourism practices and encouraging other major cities around the world to learn from the experience and come together in the face of global climate change threats.
Commenting on the win, Jill Hamilton, CEO Weber Shandwick Africa said: “We are absolutely delighted with this honour. This campaign, delivered together with South African Tourism, our partners at FCB here in Johannesburg and others around the world, was important as water resilience and sustainable behaviour change remain critical issues at home and abroad.”