Sports tourism could be a major boon for South Africa but the sports and tourism industries need to stop working in silos to reap the most benefit.
During a sports tourism event at Cape Town’s DHL Stadium last week, Tumelo Selikane, MD of Nielsen Sports South Africa, said South Africa’s sporting talents are increasingly recognised at home and on the global stage, and tourism numbers are growing. However, he questioned whether the country is truly maximising these opportunities.
He said the tourism industry could benefit from the fact that “in any given year, in any given calendar, sport has a defined date”.
Selikane said: “We know when the next rugby test match is. We know the Cricket World Cup is coming.”
Tourism operators could look to sport for international and local opportunities, especially in off-peak season, he added. “There are all of these defined opportunities in a year that tourism can rely on to help drive numbers.”
This was echoed by Kelvin Watt, MD of Capitalize Media, during a panel discussion at the event. “It’s so disappointing that the tourism industry is not working more closely with the sports industry.
“You go to things like Africa’s Travel Indaba and World Tourism Market but there’s no presence for sport. There are safari camps for days and everything else but the reality is that sports tourism is likely to bring new visitors to market and, once they do, they return.”
The role of infrastructure
Gina Woodburn, CEO of DHL Stadium, said the stadium in Green Point has generated about R7 billion (US$395 million) in economic value for Cape Town over the past two years with approximately one million people passing through its gates in the past financial year.
“When we started this journey of commercialising the stadium, we focused on capturing all its value but, as we went along, we realised that’s not what it’s about. It’s about creating economic value within a broader structure. We are one part of that value chain. So it’s really important to acknowledge that stadiums play a part but they’re not the only part.”
The events creating the biggest value have been large like Springbok test matches, the HSBC SVNS tournament and Formula E, added Woodburn. “They are the events that drive value and, I think, the challenge we face as an industry when it comes to sports tourism is answering the question: Is the return equitable?”
