Scanning through the archives of past mega events in a global setting, one finds that expert skills and potential infrastructure facilities were barely present before kick-off. All these need to be fully nurtured and developed to meet world-class level and expectations as Greece scampered in hosting the Olympic Games in 2004.
Now, we have fully built the world-class stadiums, trained our police and law enforcement agents and acquired skills in emergency management teams. South Africa has sent out teams - soccer ambassadors, sponsors and the Africa Football Confederation to welcome its guests. The question is not really whether we are really ready but how do we cope effectively in meeting the expectations of a rejuvenated post-Apartheid South Africa, the most advanced economy in Africa?
For sure, all mega sports events have image perception problems caused by the 'semi-periphery' nations and/or in the global context. The task in hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup is to showcase to the world that Africa's second-renaissance has duly arrived. There is no more the need of media stereotyping Africa as 'dark continent'. In other words, it is really time for Ke Nako, a celebration of humanity. This is really aimed at gearing up the new goose - leisure, tourism and hospitality industry - now laying the golden eggs in the nation's economy.
For instance, the role of the media should be to chronicle a host of legacies and co-ordinate national ethos, and capture the momentum, not just at the 11 June kick-off but concretise socio-economic sustainable development. The editors' forum has the duty of ensuring the task of communicating the truths to the world and living the legacies such as acquisition of skills in newer concepts of hospitality and mega events management which will augur well in future hosting.
This is because the World Cup is development-oriented and will therefore continue to have a stronghold of the media as they hold the mantle of social change and communicating tangible benefits and dousing anger over perceived emotional build-up as corruption still endemic emanating from irregular tenders on services. This is irrespective of the fact that there is a possibility of the fact that the media could be manipulated in some subdued democracies as exemplified in Zimbabwe.
Certainly, the need for skills in long-term packaging of fair pricing and benefits thereto, will be fully acquired from the Paris-based Stad de France, the technology management consultants billed to manage the 68,000-seat Cape Town multi-purpose stadium, for instance. Same goes for the Gautrain's comfortable and fast train concept in urban mass public transportation in Southern Africa.
These long-term benefits are not necessarily quick financial returns to the huge public investment towards the hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup but really offers a base for dialogue and creates an avenue for economic discourse using the criteria for formulating sense of government's commitment towards improved service delivery not just to host cities but even infrastructure development in all the nooks and crannies all over the country - integrated urban facilities management.
According to Visa, one of the 2010 FIFA World Cup sponsors, quoting a Google Market Survey, in terms of common economic wealth, the concept of conservatism in tourism is dying out almost rapidly and so South Africa with increasing reliance on this industry as the main economic driver, need not hope to find it easy in sustainable increase in its Gross Development Product, (GDP) in the short run. Thus, there is the recourse towards a strategy of sustainable job creation but shrewd enough in safe-guarding manageable inflationary pressure.
In this regards, South Africa needs to harmonise economic growth strategies in line with the current vision of the presidency's restructuring the context of 'not just department of Foreign Affairs' but international relations and cooperation. This aptly tends to spell out the need of co-operation and collaboration, say, consolidating air travel in a bid to boost tourism with the Kenya Airways in view of the fact that the company holds a market share of 76% of the continental travel trade. Similarly, Arab Emirates Airline holds another such strategic strangle-hold in Africa and the Middle East and contributed to making Abu Dhabi the tourist hot bed.
In an interview, the regional manager of the Kenya Tourist Board, Fredrick Okeyo asserted that there was much need for continental collaboration if tourism would become the main economic driver especially in the fast tracking socio-economic growth in sub-Sahara Africa.
