nairiporter | Perspectives for CT tourism

TourismCapeTown
The opportunity is now for Cape Town tourism says senior executive
Friday, January 12, 2007

The 2010 Soccer World Cup will bring an estimated 240,000 visitors to the Western Cape, but in terms of tourism it is what happens now in the build up to the event that is important. Speaking at a lunch in Crossroads for Ajax Amsterdam and the Johan Cruyff Foundation, Sheryl Ozinsky, the new CEO of Cape Town Routes Unlimited, said that while 2010 was a catalyst for investment in tourism infrastructure such as roads, transport interchanges, hotels and a massively upgraded international airport, much of this would be wasted if it was only for a once-off event.

“The challenge is not just how many people we can get here for the World Cup, but how best we can leverage off it to sustain tourism growth after 2010,” she said.

“We have a huge opportunity to market the destination in new, growing markets, where we’ve traditionally not had a great deal of exposure, such as South America (Argentina and Brazil), Asia (Japan and Korea) and some European (Italy, France) countries. A public relations campaign in these markets coupled with activating the travel trade in these countries to sell our destination is part of the work that needs to begin now.”

Cape Town is currently bidding to host the International Broadcast Centre for the World Cup. Success would see all the journalists and television crews hosted in Cape Town, both in the run-up to and during the tournament.

“With a worldwide audience of almost 4 billion people this exposure is priceless, particularly if we can capitalise on it by packaging offers to visit the Western Cape before and after 2010.”

She said that Cape Town’s existing international appeal, ample hotel accommodation and facilities as well as a plan to double the existing 10 000m2 of convention space to accommodate the International Broadcast Centre made it a strong contender.

But Ozinsky warned that it was imperative that the work to capitalise on “our single biggest tourism opportunity” started now.

“For South Africa the World Cup is a once-off event and we must be careful not to get so fixated on hosting the actual tournament that we don’t think beyond it. We need to establish how we’re going to maximise the international media coverage, encourage people to come and visit us and then transform these visitors into international destination ambassadors. This must happen now, not once the last goal is scored.”

Says Moeketsi Mosola, CEO of South African Tourism, “The Dutch market is a significant and highly lucrative market for South Africa. Last year, tourism arrivals from the Netherlands increased by a healthy 15.8% for the period from January to July, making it the third largest source market for Destination South Africa in Europe.”

“While these figures are encouraging, our aim, in line with our Tourism Growth Strategy is to actively and aggressively invest in growing tourism arrivals through innovative schemes and partnerships. Hence we’ve partnered with Ajax Cape Town and Cape Town Routes Unlimited in this venture.”

“We are delighted to welcome Ajax Amsterdam to one of the hottest, most happening and fastest growing destinations in the world. We are certain that this will be a memorable and life-altering experience,” adds Mosola.