But its impact with viewers was even bigger with a 500% growth from 844 000 viewers to a whopping 4.9 million viewers towards the end of the series.
This phenomenal growth of viewership ranked Holiday Swap KZN as the second most watched reality TV show on television during week 9 of the first season.
With the level of audience interaction on social media around the excitement of catching each episode, it is quite clear that Holiday Swap KZN has a winning formula and that South Africans do have a keen interest in experiencing the hidden gems that KwaZulu-Natal holds.
“We are elated at these results – being ranked as the second most watched reality program on South African television is a milestone far exceeding our expectations. It shows there is a hunger for locals to explore their country. We firmly believe that we have started on a journey of changing the mindset of South Africans who currently see travel as not accessible to them. I think the show has displayed that travel is for everyone. With the Thebe Travel Card we are also beginning to make the payment easy and affordable. We have hundreds of queries about the Thebe Travel Card which shows the need for this type of product. We look forward to other provinces coming on board so that we can give more exposure of this beautiful country to more people through Holiday Swap,” says Jerry Mabena, CEO of Thebe Tourism Group.
Boni Mchunu, general manager of Marketing at Tourism KwaZulu-Natal said, “As Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, we are delighted that the show has done so well in driving destination brand awareness (KwaZulu-Natal). The numbers speak for themselves. The show has been a magnificent platform for us to showcase KwaZulu-Natal and its hidden gems to millions of television viewers. It has allowed viewers to explore what’s on offer in KwaZulu-Natal and hopefully will make booking their next holiday to KwaZulu-Natal much easier. We are definitely looking forward to receiving most of the Holiday Swap viewers in KwaZulu-Natal in the near future.”
“Launch Factory prides itself on producing only the best branded content. Holiday Swap KZN was an engaging, informative and entertaining property that also gave viewers the opportunity to purchase a KwaZulu-Natal holiday package instantly using a Thebe Travel Card. The increase in viewership over the 13 weeks, is indicative of how successful and appealing Holiday Swap KZN has been to the target market as every week more and more viewers tuned into the show. This has been an innovative project in partnership with a brave client and with the results to show, well done Tourism KwaZulu-Natal,” said Spero Patricios managing director of Launch Factory.
As much as the widely adored show might have come to a close, the opportunity to book affordable holiday packages through the Thebe Travel Card or become a travel agent through FlightSite Agent is still open. This can all be done on
www.holidayswapkzn.co.za.