World Cup investments will give South Africa more status on the world MICE scene

Wednesday, 18 November 2009 13:24

Interview

World Cup investments will give South Africa more status on the world MICE scene

Some countries have harvested long-lasting benefits from mega-events such as the Olympic Games, the World Cup, World Expo, whilst others have wasted chances and failed to build on them for the future. ‘South Africa’, says Roshene, ‘will definitely secure everlasting gains – and we have already started work to make sure’.
An important step in the run-up to July 2010 will be the exhibition Meetings Africa to be held in the Sandton Convention Centre Johannesburg February 24 to 26 2010.
There will be over 200 exhibitors, representing the most important players on the South African MICE scene. ‘And’, adds Roshene, ‘it will be the occasion of a T20 meeting’.

‘T20?’

‘Yes, the Ministers of Tourism of the G20 countries will be gathering for an important meeting in Johannesburg during the exhibition in February. We are calling it the T20 Summit’.

South Africa has already hosted 140 major events in 2009, including several big sporting occasions: the Confederation Cup, the ITC Championships, India’s 20/20 cricket tournament, the Lions Tour and the ICC Trophy Championships. South Africa is confident the World Cup will prove that security is not a problem for foreign visitors. ‘There has never been a serious crime problem for foreign visitors. Obviously every country has incidents and even a single one is one too many,’ comments Roshene, ‘but we have always seen that when there is an event of international importance, all South Africans pull together for its success. Of course, at the same time we are taking every security step possible. We have invested 1.2bn rand (about £80m) in training an extra 41,000 police for duty in the cities where the matches will be played.’

Roshene can give evidence that as a whole the world has confirmed its confidence. ‘It is the most successful world cup ever in terms of sponsors. There is a long list, including Coca Cola, Sony, Visa, Adidas. Budweiser, Castrol, Continental, McDonalds and Emirates. There are lots of VIP suites and facilities for private corporate hospitality and marquees are being erected so that smaller businesses can host guests in shared premises.

There are 11 stadia being prepared in 9 cities and they will also be able to provide facilities for corporate events post-World Cup. The new stadium in Durban features an arch that will always be a visitor attraction, with views over the whole coastline. The Port Elizabeth stadium is being designed with an animal theme, the supports for the building being in the form of giraffes. Stadiums in Johannesburg and Cape Town are incorporating state-of-the-art conference facilities.
The Government has invested £3bn in road building and improvement and in telecommunications and a new train system is being provided to link downtown Johannesburg with the stadium outside town. ‘The South African Government,’ Roshene points out, ‘has ordered 1,000 new coaches to make it easy and comfortable for fans to journey from one venue to another as they follow their teams.’

From the MICE point of view, possibly the most significant investment has been in new hotels and refurbishment by the private sector. New properties already include a Taj Hotel in Cape Town, three new Radissons in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth and a One&Only hotel in Cape Town and a Southern Sun property in Hyde Park, Johannesburg.
‘We can already count about £1.3bn in hotel investment’, says Roshene, ‘which will serve the country very well into the future’.