fan parks to fuel local business
3 December 2007

Fan parks near stadiums are to provide business opportunities for local entrepreneurs, in host cities for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.

The parks, pioneered in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, will allow fans who do not have tickets to enjoy the spirit of the games, by watching all the action on high definition big screen televisions, at secure venues.  Cape Town business owners met with Mayor Helen Zille to discuss their concerns about access to the business opportunities which will be presented by the various fan parks.

Ms Zille held a workshop for the various business leaders who had earlier expressed concern that they did not have enough information regarding access to business opportunities surrounding the fan parks.  She pointed out that the city needed to deliver a world class event, which would create future investment opportunities and raise the profile of Cape Town as a city capable of organising world class events. 

CEO of Accelerate Cape Town, Guy Lundy said: “To date business and government have not worked very closely on ensuring that we maximise the opportunities presented by the world cup, and business has not been engaged with it because of lack of knowledge.”  He said once businesses become engaged with the event, they will hopefully begin to spread the positive messages about the world cup rather than the consistently negative ones.  Mr Lundy added that Cape Town must use the world cup as an opportunity to show the world that the city can be a global hub of innovation and creativity, and that business was essential in making this happen.

Mr Marsden said that the final FIFA guidelines were expected early next year and host cities were already engaging with each other on how to put across a collective position that would benefit local businesses.

Businesses must also look at opportunities in the run up to the world cup, non-match day activities, exhibitions and displays not necessarily linked to the event, and opportunities within local environments such as pubs and restaurants, said Mr Boraine.

Deputy Finance Minister Jabu Moleketi, speaking in November about government’s state of readiness ahead of the world cup, said official fan parks are organised under the auspices of FIFA and South Africa has agreed that each host city must have at least one fan park.  "The fan parks we have here will be very similar to those seen in Germany [during the 2006 World Cup], and will be branded by the partners of FIFA and secured by our own security services because it is one of the areas that will cater to the broad amount of supporters in the tournament.

Michael Appel, www.buanews.co.za