In the face of global challenges in the tourism industry posed by the pandemic, South African Tourism (SAT), and Netflix have agreed to explore joint opportunities that will benefit both organizations to showcase stories made in South Africa and watched by the world.
Netflix stories provide a global platform to showcase South Africa to the world through content made in South Africa, to be watched by the world.
To date, the streaming service has released a diverse slate of content from South Africa across different genres including; Netflix original series like Queen Sono, Blood & Water, How To Ruin Christmas: The Wedding, Kings of Joburg; films like Seriously Single, Catching Feelings, Santana, Baby Mamas, Keeping up with the Kandasamys and most recently; the Oscar-nominated nature documentary My Octopus Teacher and Netflix’s first original stand-up show, Loyiso Gola’s Unlearning (which premiered this week on 23 March).
Netflix has also brought stories from other parts of the world that were filmed in South Africa, like the films Holiday in the Wild and Last Days of American Crime as well as global Netflix series, Sacred Games, The Crown, Black Mirror and Kissing Booth (1 & 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,” explains Sisa Ntshona, CEO, SA Tourism.
“Netflix reaches millions of eyeballs globally, and by working closely with Netflix, we are able to latch onto a massive opportunity to influence the audience to think more closely about South Africa and thus convincing them to visit our country.”
The partnership will also see SA Tourism working closely with Netflix in promoting the country’s must-visit sights through its locally-produced series into international markets.
“We have 11 global country offices and there will always be opportunities for our international offices in key source markets to latch onto opportunities to showcase South Africa through the title Netflix launch,” adds Ntshona.
“This past year, when entertainment mattered more than ever, our 204 million members around the world connected with new worlds, and most importantly with each other, through stories from South Africa and across the globe,” says Ben Amadasun, Netflix Director of Content in Africa.
