TOURISM
At the 2010 FIFA World Cup, British football fans are most likely to base
themselves in Cape Town, with the second most popular choice of destination
being where the supporters' national football teams are based for the
duration of the competition.
Whilst fans are based in South Africa for the tournament they're keen to
make the most of the opportunity of being in the country. The most popular
destinations for supporters during the tournament are the Cape of Good Hope
and Cape Point. British fans are also keen to make the most of both wine and
cultural tours during their stay with Robben Island and Table Mountain being
popular places to visit. The lure of the golf courses and a round or two of
golf in South Africa also ranked high in our research.The biggest obstacles
preventing fans from attending the event is the cost of travel to South
Africa and work commitments.
SADC tourism stakeholders have resolved to come up with an intra-regional
tourism package that will make tourism in Southern Africa stand out from its
competitors ahead of the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
The resolutions were made at a recent 2010 World Cup tourism workshop in
Harare.
Representatives from the Southern African tourism boards urged stakeholders
to be realistic in their preparations for the 2010 soccer showcase and come
up with strategies on how it is going to present itself to the rest of the
world before, during and after the 2010 soccer world cup.
Zimbabwe, one of the Sadc member states whose tourism boards proposed and
agreed to be part of the Sadc Intra-Regional Tourism Packaging, believes
this move will not benefit South Africa alone but the whole region and the
African continent.
The Sadc region has abundant tourism facilities to cater for multitudes of
fans that will throng Africa in 2010.
This initiative was long overdue according to some key tourism stakeholders
who attended the 2010 World Cup Tourism Workshop held in Harare recently.
The 2010 Fifa World Cup, the first on African soil is going to be a
momentous event for Africa and one that will leave a lasting legacy beyond
2010.
Intra-regional tourism packaging is the joint marketing campaigns by tourism
authorities in a region to promote a product -- and in this case -- Sadc
tourism authorities will embark on a joint marketing strategy to come up
with one package for the whole of Southern Africa.
This drive will see more integration of Sadc tourism, trade and economic
development plans via regional and sub-regional co-operation, giving major
impetus to regional travel and tourism. It indeed augurs well for Sadc's
future tourism and economic growth.
The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, Zambia Tourism Board and the Limpopo Tourism
Board all agreed that they would work together in marketing the region
before, during and after the world cup in 2010.
Travel, transportation, communication and world acclaimed tourist
destinations such as the Majestic Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Indigo Bay in
Mozambique and Robin Island in South Africa figured highly on the list of
destinations to visit in the Southern Africa tourism package for the world
cup in 2010.
Building of infrastructure and telecommunication links within the region and
allowing the free movements of people within the region (the relaxation of
visa requirements) need to be put in place for the growth of travel. Moreso,
business travel which, in most cases is usually followed by leisure travel.
Zambia Tourism Board is of the belief that people who are going to come for
the world cup are a different clientele from our usual tourists so the
region needs to come up with new products to attract this new clientele
coming in 2010.
Southern Africa has identified many areas for the development of
transfrontier parks for free movement of animals into other countries and
creating an (all in one) mega national park like the Great Limpopo
Transfrontier Park comprising Zimbabwe, South Africa and Mozambique.
Three countries agreed that the Sub-Saharan region has not been highly
exposed and exploited so this was the chance to be on the map and make
natural links within the region, for example, having Victoria Falls on every
tourism package in each of the countries in the region.
There is a low-level awareness of what the region offers in terms of tourism
hence the need for intra-regional links in cultural, arts and other products
that attract visitors.
Limpopo Tourism Board said the region lacks unified tourism routes and
linkages of major attractions and that packages only promote and market
products as individual destinations.
A rigid cross-border travel formality is another issue South Africa is
working on to allow free movement of both regional and international
tourists.
Indeed, working through regional and sub-regional groupings is more
convenient and efficient.
People from many neighbouring countries speak common languages, share common
cultures and traditions.
They have their differences, but can usually work them out, barring major
international disputes.
The Pacific Asia economic development bloc has been one of the leading
regions in promoting travel and tourism, and has set a precedent as one of
the leading tourism growing regions in the world in the past 10 years.
Tourism is one of the most important sectors in a large number of Asia
Pacific countries.
Increases in economic growth, disposable income and leisure time, and
aggressive tourism campaigns -- among other factors -- have fuelled the
significant growth of tourism.
