zambia, sa to promote tourism ahead of 2010 
26 September 2007

Zambian Tourism Minister Michael Kaingu, said they are designing tourism packages with their South African counterparts in a bid to market the two countries when South Africa hosts the World Cup in 2010.

The Tourism Council of Zambia had initiated programmes to encourage the local hospitality industry to engage local people as they prepared and marketed Zambia’s tourism potential ahead of the football spectacle.

In May this year, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique agreed on sharing the tourism spin-offs of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, through "border free" tourism packages.

South Africa’s Limpopo Tourism Parks Board, Zambia’s National Tourists Board, Zimbabwe’s Tourism Authority and Mozambique signed agreements at the Tourism Indaba in Durban.

Together, the parties are called the Limpopo - Zambezi Destination.

The Limpopo - Zambezi Destination will, following the agreement, undertake tourism research, collect data and statistics to help them gain better understanding of the profile of present travellers and the needs of future market sectors.  The tourism package of four countries would ensure that benefits of the world cup were shared by the region.

Some of the tasks which are to take place include the branding for the Limpopo - Zambezi Destination, and joint marketing strategies. Also high on the agenda, is the easing of border formalities to ensure that the passage of travellers through border posts is swift and trouble free.

The Limpopo - Zambezi Destination will also analyse the current range of tourism products with the aim to refresh and upgrade to meet changes in visitor demand.

World Cup fixtures will be played in ten stadia, distributed across nine cities in South Africa. Five of these arenas are being renovated to comply with FIFA's requirements, while the other half are being built from scratch.

Construction has started on all the five arenas and renovations to four of the stadiums set to host 2010 fixtures will be complete by December 2008. These stadiums are Vodacom Park in Mangaung, Royal Bafokeng in Rustenburg, Loftus stadium in Pretoria and Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

Those who will be completed by October 2009 are Mbombela in Nelspruit, Peter Mokaba (Polokwane), Nelson Mandela Bay, Green Point (Cape Town) Moses Mabhida (Durban) and the Soccer City in Johannesburg.

buanews.co.za