Gauteng ready for pivotal World Cup role

Gauteng will also serve as the home of the International Broadcast Centre: the nerve centre for all television operations and the world's news agencies during the World Cup.

In order to ensure that Gauteng's readiness is top notch, Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA), in collaboration with the provincial government, recently hosted a Readiness Summit for its stakeholders and the general populace, and presented the state of readiness in both infrastructural and operational matters.

"We at Gauteng Tourism Authority attach a great deal of importance to the FIFA 2010 World Cup. With a theme, 'Play everywhere, win in Gauteng' we have taken the advantage of promoting and showcasing Gauteng as a preferred tourist destination beyond the World Cup," Nonnie Kubeka, destination marketing and communication senior manager said.

Worked proactively

Given last year's negative media exposure, GTA has also worked proactively to attend to the potential challenges facing the province by introducing the Gauteng's Smile campaign in collaboration with Gauteng Provincial Government. This is aimed at educating the local populace to welcome 2010 FIFA World Cup tourists with a big smile.

"We had to put a lot of effort into dispelling the myth surrounding Gauteng as a violent province, since last year's xenophobic attack on foreign nationals had a negative effect on visitation as well as the economic recession, which crippled tourist travel, and market Gauteng as a prime tourist destination," said Kubeka.

In order to meet GTA's mandate of developing Small, Medium, Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in the tourism sector, we will be taking 16 SMMEs to Indaba Exhibitions - the largest tourism marketing events in the African calendar.

"We are not only proud to afford SMMEs the opportunity to participate in the sustainable and profitable tourism growth, but also to encourage SMMEs to improve their product, management and marketing abilities," Mpho Moeti, acting CEO added.

Promoting equitable and sustainable tourism businesses

By promoting equitable and sustainable tourism businesses, GTA further showcases and encourages SMMEs to enter the ETEYA Awards initiative. ETEYA is a South African Tourism (SAT) initiative in co-operation with Provincial Tourism Authorities and sponsored by SA Breweries. Its objective is to enhance job creation, financial sustainability and product development of SMMEs within the tourism industry with the hope of SMMEs migrating from second economy to the mainstream economy. ETEYA 2010 first runner-up is GTA's SMME, Jojo Tsheola of Tsheola Dinare Tours.