BASED on its venues and the country as a whole, the 2010 World Cup in
South Africa should be a 'bigger success' than its 2006 equivalent in
Germany, Nelson Mandela Bay business people were told yesterday.
The message was given at a briefing session by German Chamber of Commerce
and Industry World Cup specialist Tim Fuhrmann who said that with 450000
overseas visitors attending, the event would bring in a 'huge amount of
capital to the economy'.
But to take full advantage small businesses would have to 'think out of
the box' by being innovative.
'Let me give you one example,' he told the audience at the briefing, organised
jointly by the Business Women's Association (BWASA) and the Regional Chamber
of Commerce and Industry (Percci).
'Many World Cup visitors will not realise the event is being held during
South Africa's winter and many will not bring warm enough clothes.
'This is an ideal opportunity for the manufacturers of jackets to design
and make these with a soccer motif and sell them.'
Fuhrman said, though, that businesses should be aware that strict regulations
applied to using World Cup 2010 branding and such garments should not
infringe the regulations, even though the restrictions were 'unfavourably
tight' in his opinion.
Overall, he said if South Africa 'does it right' with the 2010 event,
it should get 10 times the return on its investment.
'In Germany in 2006, the retail sector recorded sales of ?2-billion (about
R25-billion), while hotels and accommodation providers record 41,5 million
overnight stays.' On top of that, future prospects for tourism and for
foreign investment would be improved by staging the cup to world-class
standards, ranging from providing the massive amount of information technology
required to smooth-running transport and local fan parks.
'The World Cup presents South Africa with its biggest opportunity since
1994 and if the proper organisational capacity is put in place, the returns
from the event will be better than in Europe in 2006 or in the US and
Japan/Korea in the recent past.'
There would also be opportunities to introduce innovative programmes or
expand on existing World Cup initiatives, like 'Greengoal', which had
been introduced to make the cup climate and pollution neutral by managing
materials used and waste disposal. Another would be 'Streetfootballworld'
which was introduced in Germany to enable 'socials hotspots' to benefit
from soccer by encouraging the game amongst communities.
But Fuhrman said there were some risks. These included mismanagement of
funds and risks of crime.
'Hooliganism - I think European soccer fans invented that - is one threat,
but that should be controlled with proper management and adequate resources.'
Terrorism was another risk factor, but Fuhrman rated that as 'not high'
in South Africa.
He forecast the event would be a major success, based on South Africa's
recent track record.
'Many countries would have crumpled to dust faced with the challenges
South Africa has met in the last 14 years', and this could only improve
in the buildup and staging of the World Cup.
,
3 April 2008
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