Jetsetting with Janet: How the #FreeToBe campaign promotes local tourism

South Africa is a travel destination where tourists can feel free, safe and experience a culture of warmth and acceptance. This is the message behind the Free To Be launched by Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA).

This week on Jetsetting with Janet, podcast host Janet Pillai speaks to Natalia Rosa, marketing and destination manager for the #FreeToBe campaign. 

In an effort to bolster local tourism, the campaign aligns stakeholders in the tourism industry behind one message – South Africa is open, free and fun in a post-pandemic era.

“We decided that what we needed to do as a tourism industry was to align behind positioning South Africa as a destination where you can be free, where you can live your best life outdoors, where you can experience adventure, where you can have the most incredible food, wine and culture,” said Rosa. 

“We are communicating through the tourism industry to the end consumer giving them the platforms and the tools that they need to communicate this #FreeToBe message.”

Pillai also spoke to Thea van der Merwe, from Jordan Wine Estate, Richard Evans from Circle Launches Seal Island Cruises and Cape Town Kayaks, Quintin Smith from Bikes ‘n Wines, and Ryan Larkman from Cape Canopy Tours and Paragliding. 

Rosa said that with every photograph and video social media users post with the #FreeToBe hashtag, they are stimulating a tourism economy that has a deep supply chain, and in so doing are creating jobs. 

“I just think about that word free, and how freeing it is to travel around South Africa to experience what we have on offer. Our cultural diversity, which is unrivalled in the world, there’s just so much for us to offer,” she said.