BTN_ITB_DAY2_PP1_14:Layout 1 01/03/2010 20:59 Page 1
ITB Berlin Special Edition
Thursday 11 March 2010
www.breakingtravelnews.com S P E C I A L R E P O R T
World Travel Awards 2010 nominees announced page 15
Abu Dhabi
Mobile Marketing
A destination of distinction page 8
and the FIFA World Cup 2010 page 11
Back in Business? Business Travel review page 12
In just 92 days, South Africa is poised to make history by becoming the first African nation to host a World Cup. With its stadiums now sparkling and the pitches almost ready for their final trim, the country has proved the doubters wrong by rising to the challenge of preparing for the world’s greatest football tournament.
Sport tourism beats recession When the first match kicks off between the hosts and Mexico on 11 June, it will represent not just a game of football but South Africa as a nation coming of age. Yet FIFA 2010 is only the start of South Africa’s huge sporting ambitions. In an exclusive interview with Breaking Travel News, Sugen Pillay, South Africa Tourism’s global manager of events, said: “One of the big legacies of the World Cup will be to position South Africa as an events and sports tourism destination – it’s an opportune time for us.”
“Sport is critical for us in boosting the tourism industry. We need to bring in more international events which attract around 7,000-10,000 people – this is vital. These are the events that South Africa will be aiming to host in the years after the World Cup. The tourism board’s aggressive strategy may sound ambitious in a time of global economic uncertainty, but SAT has revealed sport has been the main reason that the country’s tourism industry has progressed during the recession. “I think sport tourism is critical, even in the context of a recession,” Pillay added. “If you look at our track record from the time we held the Rugby World Cup and the Cricket World Cup, we have seen tourism grow because of those major events.
“Last year was quite unique in South Africa. We held a number of major international events, starting off with the Indian Premier League, the Confederations Cup, the British and Irish Lions rugby tour and then the ICC Champions Cricket trophy. Those events happened in a climate of economic recession. “Had it not been for those events our growth in tourism would have been pretty low. We think that sport events, even during an economic recession, are good for our destination.” The country’s acknowledgment of the power of the sport tourism is represented by its hosting of the inaugural World Sport Destination Expo (WSDE), the first global exhibition to provide a business platform for the key buyers and suppliers that make up the $600 billion a year industry. The conference and exhibition will be held during the final week of the World Cup at the Sandton Convention Centre, in host city Johannesburg (5-9 July). The United Nations World Tourism Organisation too is working closely with countries to promote sport as a tourism driver and a boost for the economy. UNWTO secretary-general Taleb Rifai said: “Sports tourism was actually approved in our last general assembly in Astana last October as a goal in the road map to recovery.
“One of the recommendations is to take advantage of major events such as sports. If you do so, you are investing in an infrastructure. “The economy needs investment – so sport can be an investment that’s safe for the future, can be used for future events and can create jobs and economic movement.” When asked what South Africa should do to ensure the World Cup leaves a lasting tourism legacy, JeanClaude Baumgarten, president and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council, said: “There is a lot of energy in hosting a major sport event and you should not lose that energy and not have, what I call, an ‘Olympic hangover’.” “This is something I will advise strongly for South Africa, they have a great opportunity with the World Cup. But it must be a springboard and immediately afterwards they must take advantage of this event.” When South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup, the fairytale story was immortalised by Hollywood in the film Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. If the 2010 FIFA World Cup creates as much passion and impact as the Springbok's victory did in 1995, another blockbuster could be on the cards, as well as a legacy that lasts for decades.
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