Will Soccer Tourists Disturb this Peace?
Safety for Tourists During the World Cup
About a year and a half ago I spent 6 months in South Africa, and I made a lot of new friends from all over the world in this amazing, international, fun and beautiful city. But after the stay there, almost all of my friends had one thing in common: They had been mugged / robbed at some point during the time there. A lot of them at night, but some in broad daylight with people walking by. Some with violence, gun points or knives, while others more skilled pickpockets or plain stealing. Anyways, the point is that you can’t argue the fact that South Africa has a serious crime problem. So this is one point that really needs attention before the world cup. If South Africa wants to keep an image as a safe and family friendly travel destination, they have to avoid headlines like: “World Cup Tourists Mugged”. “Two out of Three got Robbed during World Cup”, etc. Hopefully the day to day criminals will be too busy watching the game and let tourists pass untouched for this time. Or, ideally, maybe the world cup will actually create a significant number of new jobs that can eradicate some of the poverty and crime that burdens this country.
World Cup = New Jobs & Less Poverty?
There is no doubt that South Africa’s people have hopes that the World Cup will help them reduce their depressingly high unemployment rates. And I hope so too! But I have no idea what to actually expect. There will for sure be thousands of temporary jobs during the four weeks the Soccer World Cup lasts, what happens when all the tourists go home, the media stops paying attention to the country and people’s life go back to normal? For these temporary jobs to become permanent, South Africa needs to give a good impression while it has the whole world’s attention. That means that organizing, transportation, lodging, safety, service and even weather has to be excellent! I don’t say they won’t be able to do it, but it will certainly require some luck as well as hard work. And for the weather part: while most of the world enjoy their summer sun at home, the world cup will take place in South Africa’s rainy winter. So hopefully the weather won’t have too much of an impact of peoples impression after all.
Is the World Cup Tourism Responsible and Sustainable?
South African Airlines over Cape Town's Townships
South Africa is one of Africa’s most developed nations, and has done a lot of work on creating a responsible and sustainable tourism industry. There are several eco-friendly and green lodges, safari camps, and tourism organizations. They also have done a lot of research and projects on pro-poor tourism, where they try to include the local population as much as possible into the tourism industry: local ownership, local markets, local employees, etc. These are topics that really interest me, and I hope that the 2010 influx of tourism will help the responsible part of the industry to expand and make South Africa’s tourism more sustainable!
I am sure that the amount of tourists that will come to South Africa during the world cup would not be sustainable if it was permanent, but it is not permanent and I am confident that during those four weeks it will do more good than harm for the South African people! The harmful side would probably be cultural and environmental effects that are not particularly desirable, but again we have to remember that it’s only for one month. And if we are lucky, the good side is that the world will have one more success story about a country that hosted and celebrated a huge event and reduced it’s poverty and unemployment rates at the same time!
There will for sure be problems, but I hope that the success stories will dominate, and South Africa will benefit in the long run from hosting the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup! Who actually wins the cup could not matter less to me..
What do you think? Is hosting the 2010 World Cup good for South Africa? Leave a comment below!
I think it is good for SA. It will give us a change to show more tourists what our country exists of, why we love this country.
I do believe that guest houses , hotels etc. will inform people of where to go and where not to, which places are safe, and where not to hang around.
Tourists also have a responsibility to stay within the perimiters of safety.
SA isn’t all bad, here are a lot of good. Much more good than bad. And while you are over here, pop in and we can have a nice braai the South African way (Lam / Beef), not from the butcher, but fresh from the farm. We are looking forward to this event, and entertaining you guys from around the world.
South Africa Rocks… come and see for yourself!
Hi Theo,
Thanks for an interesting comment!
I totally agree with you; Tourists have a responsibility for their own safety, and should always make sure that they know where they are going.
I love South Africa too (I spent 6 months there, which was not close to enough) and I think it is a great opportunity for the country to show the world what you have there! I can’t wait to explore it more myself!
I will be moving back to Cape Town in January, 2010, and am all ready for a good braai!
PS: Theo, how are the preparations for the World Cup going? It would be interested to hear from a local, rather than a newspaper.
Hi,
We are and will experience a totally falsely boosted economy. Every budget has already flown through the roof via ‘our’ usual toyi-toyi demands for higher & higher wages. So…once all the dust has settled after the world cup and everyone has returned home….then what? NOTHING! We will have lovely stadia all over the country…no further housing, running water, electricity for the poor, who will then be left drastically poorer. Gone will be the jobs, the regular earnings.
Then, we will experience crime & tool downing on a massive unprecedented scale. There is no other way in which this current govt is, or will be able to create jobs. Those who talk of 500,000 soon to be created jobs, live in cuckoo land!
And all for what…..a stupid soccer game. FIFA are the ONLY winners in this hypocritical scenario!
The upliftment of a country’s infrastructure is infinitely more important than stupid sport!!
Hi Silverfox,
Your comment was very interesting to me. When I was in South Africa, I never heard people talking about the negative side of the world cup. But I have definitely been worried about some of the points you mention. However, your predictions seem a bit harsh to me.
Yes, I agree, you don’t really need those stadia for the future. But will nothing else come out of this?
I also agree that those 500 000 jobs, if created, will not last much longer than the actualy world cup lasts.
But this sports event is still important for South Africa:
1. It is the first time the World Cup is held on the African continent. Soccer is a huge sport in large parts of Africa, and this event will definitely bring pride and excitement to the continent.
2. If things go well, the world cup will have an enormous marketing potential to the whole world. South Africa can reach tourist numbers far higher than before, for several years after the actual cup. This means that even though a lot of the new jobs are temporary, some of them will definitely become permanent!
3. Local businesses in South Africa will get a short boom in their income, which can be critical in these hard economic times.
I agree that South Africa needs more than a “stupid sport” to reach it’s goals of less poverty, unemployment, crime, etc. But maybe this can be a step on the way?
And few things have a more uniting effect on a country’s population than hosting a sports event like this!
What do you think?
Thanks,
Hakon
Take a look at this new blog post about the world cup, and share your opinions:
Will South Africa be Ready for the World Cup in 2010? – http://www.theafricatravelblog.com/africa-travel-news/will-south-africa-be-ready-for-the-world-cup-in-2010/
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its now or never, i urge south africa to go for it. its worth everything, some contries only go as far as just dreaming of hosting an event of this magnitude. you have come so far dont stop now….
well, that thing is for sure: There is no way going back now. But I have a very good feeling about this now!