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SPORT
country, and over a half of those who
had attended previous World Cups
said that South Africa was a better
host than the other host nations they
had visited. Ninety per cent of international
tourists visiting the country for
the World Cup said that they planned
to return to South Africa.
The 2010 World Cup took place in
nine cities with Durban, Johannesburg
and Cape Town being the most popular
with international tourists. For Durban
and Cape Town, already major centres
of leisure tourism, the event has further
bolstered their market awareness,
stimulated investment in major infrastructure
projects and encouraged the
development of new tourism products
including hotels, restaurants, entertainment
facilities and stadia.
The total investment in stadia by the
South African government and the provincial
governments totalled R8.4bn
(£700m), over half of the R17.4bn
(£1.4bn) total investment necessary
to host the World Cup. Five new stadia
were constructed for the event (at Cape
Town, eThekwini, Nelson Mandela Bay,
Mbombela and Pokowane) while five
existing stadia were upgraded (two in
Johannesberg, at Tshwane, Rustenberg
and at Mangaung).
In the words of Helen Zille, premiere
of the Western Cape province
whose government invested more than
R13bn (£1.1bn) in making Cape Town
one of the host cities and constructed
the new Green Point Stadium: “Africa
proved to the world that we can deliver
excellence, on time and in budget. Our
province did its bit for nation-building
and sustaining the vision of what we
can be as a country.”
Cape Town attracted over 500,000
spectators to the 25 matches at
Green Point, 580,000 people undertook
the iconic ‘Fans’ Walk’ and
560,000 took part in the various fans
fests. The city saw 19,000 volunteers
The World Cup attracted 310,000
international visitors. They spent
£300m in the country
recruited and trained for the World
Cup, with 1,600 media encamped in
the city. There was unprecedented levels
of cooperation across all aspects
of city life and governance.
The legacies behind the headlines
In July 2011, the Western Cape provincial
government hosted the Sports &
Events Tourism Exchange Conference
in Cape Town with the main theme
being an examination of the legacy
and the lessons learned from the
2010 FIFA World Cup. The aim of the
conference was to look at ways of
building on the success of the event in
order to attract more global sporting
events and grow international sports
tourism. The aim was also to ensure
that the tangible and intangible benefi
ts of the World Cup were understood
and critically evaluated.
For some at the conference, the jury
was still out on whether the World Cup
was truly a success for South Africa.
FIFA estimates that the event generated
more than $4.2bn (£2.65bn) in
revenues yet the host country reaped
just $520m (£328m); internal reports
"Perhaps we should reflect on how much
can be achieved when skilled and dedicated
teams of people are prepared to overcome
all obstacles to achieve a goal"
Members of the public in
Johannesburg take part in the
'diski dance' – the official dance
for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
suggest that middle classes (both
white and black) did well from the event
yet poorer communities gained little. In
addition, the event was city-focused;
urban South Africa – specifically downtown
commercial areas – did well, while
the suburbs and rural areas secured
little real uplift. Also, while global sponsors
and corporate activity took place
around the event, much of the real
benefits for these organisations was
gained outside Africa.
For the majority of speakers, however,
there was an overriding sense of
collective positive achievements.
Marketeers, for example, spoke of
the changing perceptions and relationships
between tourists and the
destinations they visited. World Cup
tourists and the media become emotionally
connected to the country and
the host cities. Initial fears associated
with fragile security and safety issues
50 Read Leisure Management online leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital ISSUE 2 2012 © cybertrek 2012