The Football World Cup 2010 is not just leaving great surprises in football but it also leaves an economic impact of 93.000 millions rands; the entry of tourists to South Africa is more than 750,000 and is expected to exceed the 1,000,000 tourists during the event! The World Cup gives economic life thanks to the tourism sector.

Who could imagine that in less than 1 month South Africa would receive 750.000 tourists? And that this figure is expected to increase to 1, 000,000 tourists… It was impossible to think years ago that South Africa could have a quick positive impact on the economy. South Africa is now receiving the rewards of being the selected country of the FIFA Football World Cup 2010.

This event has represented major infrastructure improvements, has given new impetus to the economy and best of all has created a positive “Country Image”. There are great opportunities on the impact caused by the event; the spirits and hopes of the majority of South Africans were on the football team but unfortunately South Africa was soon eliminated, despite of that, South Africa has clear objectives above football, some of them are: to be recognized as a country for investment in Africa and become a tourism destination in the short term.

One of the main solutions to overcome the global crisis that exists in South Africa was “temporary jobs”. The preparation of the event generated 695.000 jobs, of which 280.000 are kept throughout the years, even though that most of the jobs are temporary, they have to take into consideration that the technical skills that South Africans have learned is totally valuable and important for future works in the tourism sector.

During these months there have been important meetings related with political figures and CEO´s of large international corporations to generate a source of short-term investment in that country. This contrasts with the image that South Africa had before the Football Cup began. As we all know the concept of the country was: lack of security, crimes, multiple diseases, etc.

What we can assure is that thousands of people are now interested in South Africa as a tourist destination, mainly for the experience that tourists have lived throughout the world cup; everyone has seen that is a safe and civilized country. Of course this will also provide a big boost to the economy in the near future, the country perception has changed 180 degrees, and it has been shown that a global event improves the economy and positioning through the tourism industry.

The Consulting Firm Grant Thornton International said that the economic impact will be 93.000 million rands (62% of the amount generated during the event and the remaining 38% will occur throughout the year).

The truth is that thanks to this international event South Africa is having significatives benefits, not only by the tourist who witness the World Cup, but also because many people today are interested in visiting the destination in their future vacations.


Claudio Hasbun – C4T