It is often said that those who make history seldom appreciate their successes and it normally takes them time to appreciate their feats or indeed it is left up to future generations to proclaim them as heroes and heroines. The recently-held and outstandingly-successful 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup is such a moment where people dug deep from their wells of creativity and innovation in order to accomplish a task which might have seemed insurmountable.
Africa has a reason to smile; South Africa has a right to walk with its head high; KwaZulu-Natal deserves a pat on the back for hosting a World Cup whose success is unparalleled. In 1998 before the World Cup in France the world knew of Paris and the Eiffel Tower in France. After the 1998 World Cup, South Africans in particular, also knew that there was a place called Toulouse. Before the 2010 World Cup, the world knew about Johannesburg and Cape Town.
After the 2010 World Cup, the world has also come to know about the province of KwaZulu-Natal and the city of Durban. The kind of international exposure we received as a province from hosting the World Cup, would have taken us more than twenty years to achieve.
This, on its own, tells us that the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup was a resounding success for the province of KwaZulu-Natal. It tells us that fate has been kind to us for it afforded us an opportunity to introduce our hidden treasures to the world. No other generation will ever have this opportunity.
It is no longer a secret that, as far as venues go, KwaZulu-Natal trounced many other stadiums around the country, not only in terms of sheer beauty but also in terms of attendance. Our 70 000 capacity iconic stadium, Moses Mabhida, had an average of 62 000 attendance for all its matches. This translates to more than 80percent attendance for all games, a feat that other venues struggled to match.
Our fan fest was the most popular in the country with more than 35 000 fans attending soccer matches. In fact, at times, we had to turn people away because it was too full. A total of 435 734 people attended the Public Viewing Areas organised by government.
However, the critical aspect of the World Cup is its impact on the economy of our province. While our researchers are still putting together a comprehensive document and tallying up all the figures, we are heartened by some of the statistics that we have been able to acquire thus far.
Obviously, some of these statistics represent the impact nationally and have to be desegregated further to give us a clearer picture about the province’s performance. Among the criteria used to determine the impact of hosting the World Cup are benefits to local economies of both the host city and the province; tourism benefits in terms of bed nights; the national and international arrivals compared to last year at the same time; the marketing value of the event to the province as well as economic empowerment.
According to VISA, during the period leading up to the kickoff of the FIFA World Cup and the end of the tournament (Tuesday, 1 June through Sunday, 11 July 2010), spending by international visitors in South Africa on Visa-branded payment cards exceeded US$312 million (R2.4 billion). This is an increase of 70percent or US$128 million (R1 billion) from US$184 million (R1.4 billion) during the same period in 2009.
The number of transactions from 1 June through 11 July 2010 was 2.2 million (55,000 per day on average), up 79 percent from approximately 1.2 million (30,000 a day on average) during the same 41 days in 2009.
The latest cardholder spending data from Visa indicates:
- The United States (19.05 percent), followed by the United Kingdom (19.03 percent), Australia (4.7 percent), Brazil (4.2 percent) and France (3.4 percent) have been the strongest contributors to visitor spending to date. These five countries alone accounted for 51 percent of spending
- Over 90 percent of spending was in typical leisure and business travel categories - accommodation, restaurants, retail, auto rental and air travel
- Among the top 25 countries by spending, the largest increase was from Mexico, where cardholders spent US$7.5 million (R57 million) during the World Cup period, compared with US$131,000 (R1 million) in the same period the year before
- The biggest spenders from the African continent were Mozambique (US$8.1 million or R61 million), Botswana (US$7.47 million or R56 million) and Angola (US$6.5 million or R49 million).
“The World Cup has been an outstanding success for football and for South Africa,” said Antonio Lucio, Chief Marketing Officer at Visa. Inc. “It has definitely been a spectacular success for the local economy and businesses. The foreign visitors came in force and spent in force with their Visa cards. “The direct economic benefit to date in 2010 has been significant and the spending on Visa cards by foreigners confirms the immediate economic benefits of hosting major international events.”
According to the 2010 South Africa Tourism Outlook report recently released by Visa, international travelers using their Visa payment cards spent US$566 million (R4.3 billion) during the first quarter of 2010 (January to March), an increase of 34 percent on the same period in 2009.
Visa is one of six global FIFA partners with exclusive global category rights until 2014 and was the exclusive card for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In recognition of Visa’s sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, Visa credit, debit and prepaid cards were the only payment cards accepted, along with cash, at all FIFA stadiums and the Onsite Stadium Merchandise Booths.
The number of both international flights as well as arrivals into Durban increased dramatically during the period of the World Cup compared to the same period last year. During the period of the World Cup, 134 international flights landed in Durban compared to 52 international flights during the same period last year. The number of international passengers arriving into KwaZulu-Natal increased from 934 last year to 10 131 during the same period this year.
All these figures show one thing: that this World Cup has not only catapulted the province into the international limelight but it has put it on the global tourism map. But more importantly the exposure that KwaZulu-Natal got because of the 2010 World Cup cannot be measured by monetary terms. The province of KwaZulu-Natal and the city of Durban are like newly discovered stars in the galaxy of other tourist attractions, thanks to the World Cup. The challenge that we all have to confront now is to build on the momentum and the window of opportunity created by this unparalleled exposure. This is a challenge that I am sure we can all rise up to if we all harness the spirit of common nationhood and cooperation that prevailed during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
I thank you.
Source: Department of Economic Development and Tourism, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
