Updated projections on the economic impact of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, released today by global audit and advisory firm Grant Thornton, indicate that there are a number of reasons for South Africans to be optimistic.
“We have revised the figures post the world-wide recession and major ticket sales phases, and some of the numbers are encouraging,” said Gillian Saunders, Principal of Grant Thornton Strategic Solutions.
Although Grant Thornton’s projected number of World Cup visitors is 373,000, down from 483,000, it is expected that many of the visitors will stay longer and spend more.
“Indications are that overseas tourists will stay an average of 18 days compared to the 14 days used in the original projections,” said Saunders. “Average overseas tourist spend per trip is also forecast to be up, at R30,200 compared to the R22,000 used before.”
The average spend forecast is based on an analysis of current tourist spends in South Africa as well as dipstick surveys of potential visitors and expenditure by visitors to SA for other sporting events such as the Lions’ Tour.
Foreign World Cup visitors are expected to attend an average of five football matches per person, up from the 3.4 matches previously expected. This compares to an average of 2.6 matches attended by foreigners at the World Cup in Germany in 2006. Going to more matches means visitors are likely to stay in the country for a longer period and therefore, while daily spends remain similar, total trip spend increases.
“It must be understood that some 105,000 of the 373,000 visitors to South Africa over this period are expected to be non-ticket holders; 85,000 of whom would come from Africa for a short visit. This 105,000 is down 16% on the 125,000 non-ticket holders projected previously,” said Saunders.
The Gross economic impact will be R93 billion, with 62 per cent expected to be generated pre-2010 and 38 per cent during the course of this year. Foreign tourism will account for 16 per cent of the gross impact. The majority of economic spend comes from national governments spend on infrastructure and some operational expenditure. This has increased significantly compared to original budgets, from R17,4 billion (2007) to R30,3 billion, with a further R9 billion or more spend by cities and provinces.
Net additional economic impact in 2010 is 0.54 per cent of GDP (comprised of an estimated 0.48 per cent from net additional foreign tourism and 0.06 per cent FIFA spending). This is significant, since GDP growth this year is estimated at 2.0 to 2.5 per cent of which 0.5 per cent is accounted for by a single event.
In terms of the World Cup impact on jobs, the figures are very encouraging. The number of annual jobs sustained in total is 695,000. Of these, 280,000 annual jobs will be sustained in 2010 and 174,000 by the net additional economic activity in this year. This is an economic measure of equivalent annual jobs sustained by this amount of economic activity, and not new jobs created.
“We continue to be upbeat about the impact of the World Cup,” said Saunders. “the stadia will be full and it will be great event; the profiling of South Africa and future spin-offs have always been the real benefit of hosting an event of this magnitude.”
source : www.fifa.com
A total of 52 matches were played during the 1982 FIFA World Cup Spain™. The tournament provided some epic games including Germany FR’s semi-final win against France and Italy’s memorable 3-2 victory against Brazil.
South Africa’s 2010 FIFA World Cup™ squad completed the first week of a training camp in Germany on Monday in an upbeat mood despite continuing uncertainty over their pre-tournament programme.
FIFA World Cup™ hosts South Africa arrived in Germany on Tuesday for a two-week training camp as they step up their preparations for the 2010 football showpiece.
Undoubtedly one of the greatest goalkeepers ever, Dino Zoff captained Italy on 59 occasions and to FIFA World Cup™ glory in 1982.
With less than 60 days to go until the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, fans from all over the world are feverishly making travel plans to ensure their place in history at the first ever FIFA World Cup on African soil.
The Soweto township in Johannesburg gained international notoriety during South Africa’s struggle against apartheid. However today, Soweto was the perfect backdrop for the launch of the 2010 FIFA World South Africa™ Ticket.
David Beckham hopes to made a “swift and full recovery” from the injury which will rule him out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, his spokesman said today. The 34-year-old tore his Achilles tendon playing for AC Milan last night and will miss the rest of the season.
As any striker will tell you, the only stat that really matters is goals scored, and when it comes to international football few can match the record of Denmark’s Soren Larsen. In the past two FIFA World Cup™ qualifying campaigns, the 28-year-old netted an impressive ten goals in as many games. Unsurprisingly, the Dane finished top scorer in European Zone Group 1 en route to South Africa 2010, leaving superstars such as Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic in his wake.
Durban may be a Host City for the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup but this week it hosted a football tournament with a difference, with street children from eight countries congregating in the coastal city to battle it out against each other.