2010 Concern!

2010 is definitely the new buzz word.

I am continually inundated with news and figures as to whether or not South Africa has the correct infrastructure to hold an event of this magnitude.

Last week, a colleague of mine went to see Celine Dion in Port Elizabeth. Coincidentally, this city has come under the spotlight recently, regarding their proposed "New" stadium for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

Anyway, Celine Dion was due to start her performance at 8.00pm and being vigilant, my colleague arrived at the stadium at 5.00 pm to be on the safe side! Need I tell you this was most fortunate, as they only got into the stadium at 7.30pm and Celine came onto the stage at 8.45pm.

In short, there was total disorganisation and chaos! From the moment of arrival, where there were absolutely no designated parking areas, to the total confusion of queuing to get into the stadium, very little security and only RANDOM bag checking!

This was a concert for 10 000 patient South Africans most of whom were women. Fast forward 2 years to Nelson Mandela Stadium in Port Elizabeth, with a capacity of 50 000 people, mainly men who are football mad!

The picture is scary! Something has to be done immediately to ensure the following:-

• Parking areas have to be designated and clearly marked from as early as highway exits.
• Entrances need to be properly monitored, with an organised system whereby there is no room for large queues, and entrance into the stadiums is smooth and efficient.
• Security has to be of the utmost importance. At the Fifa World Cup 2006 in Germany, there were hundreds police officers at every game. (My colleague counted not more that 20 at above mentioned event!)
• Bag checks must be consistent. You cannot check one bag and let 4 casually go past. Need I remind you of Munich 1972 and the terror threat is much more real nowadays.

South Africa's tourism minister, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, has said that South Africa is expecting 400 000 visitors and 40-billion television viewers for football's showpiece tournament.

With these projected figures, it is near impossible to imagine what the benefits will be to the economy of South Africa. We certainly won't get a better opportunity to show the rest of the world what we are made of but the organisers of this event have to take note of the potential fiasco and we must pull together as a nation to showcase a Football World Cup with a distinctive South African flair!
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The Mitsubishi - Africa Adventure Cape to Cape Expedition 2009

The other day I had a call from a lady of the Social Development Department of a large Petrol company in South Africa which we approached for sponsorship to the upcoming Mitsubishi Africa Adventure Cape to Cape Expedition.

She insisted that our initiative is a great tourism marketing campaign, but has nothing to do with social development.

She continued to claim, that a proposed sponsorship to above expedition is not viable to them because it would be better for them to fund a specific social development cause / organisation instead of supporting our expedition, which does nothing for social development.

Obviously I can not agree with this statement. The reason is simple – lets say the sponsorship funds are used to buy books for schools. Now, once these books have been used for two or a maximum of three years they are worn and useless. The investment has been consumed and no more than three students had a direct benefit from it – that’s it, no less no more!

However, if the same funds would be used to promote tourism, lets say via The Mitsubishi - Africa Adventure Cape to Cape Expedition 2009, surely it would have a much further impact.

More tourists would visit the African Continent, positively contributing to the social upliftment of the people and economies of the various countries.

Responsible tourism development would thereby sustain the people of Africa and enable them to buy their own books, build their own schools and feed their own children without relying on donations from large corporations.

Tourism creates employment opportunities and lays the foundation on which small and medium business can prosper. It therefore distributes income derived from tourism to millions of people where before, there were only well intended, but isolated donations to various charities.

Supporting responsible tourism development throughout Africa could be a real foundation for the “Renaissance of Africa” and it’s people – not only for corrupt politicians and multi-million dollar corporations.
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"Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it" - Michael Jordan (February 1963– ) American professional basketball player and active businessman
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