World Cup planning to be hot topic at Tourism Indaba

THE topic of SA’s preparations for the 2010 Soccer World Cup is likely to dominate discussions at this year’s Tourism Indaba, which kicks off at Durban’s International Convention Centre this weekend. The Indaba will start on Saturday and run until Tuesday.

The tone of the discussions will be set by the Global Media Face Off, a media debate on the World Cup moderated by CNN host Richard Quest.

On the panel will be Local Organising Committee CEO Danny Jordaan; Fifa consultant Horst Schimdt, the driving force behind the success of the 2006 World Cup in Germany; SA Tourism acting CEO Didi Moyle; and economist Iraj Abedian. One question likely to be asked is whether the global recession will have a major effect on the event.

“We are very excited to welcome delegates to Indaba to show that we are ready and waiting to welcome the world, not only to the 2010 football spectacular, but also at other times.

“We are realistic, though and recognise that global economies are in recession and this is certainly having a knock-on effect on the industry, both here at home and elsewhere,” said Moyle in a statement yesterday.

SA Tourism is also expected to launch its 2010 marketing campaign on Friday in Durban. The campaign is part of a broader R300m campaign launched by SA Tourism in 2007 and will go live later this week on international platforms such as the British Broadcasting Corporation and Eurosport. The Indaba is likely to spark of a flurry of marketing activity in the run up to next year’s event.

Another event likely to attract attention is the launch of the Tourism Satellite Account, an internationally tested tool which will allow Stats SA to measure the full contribution of tourism to the economy for the first time.

JULIUS BAUMANN
Aviation and Tourism Editor

Source: www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx

|+| <- Zurück zu: Newsarchiv