South Africa is going to be a great place to be during the World Cup. That’s because  there’ll be dozens of parallel events happening during the World Cup to keep visitors busy and entertained when they’re not watching World Cup games.

One such event – and we’ll be posting info on others as we hear about them – is the World Sport Destination Expo, billed as “the first global business exhibition and conference of sport tourism opportunities”. The five day event is  due to take place during the final week of the World Cup starting on July 5  in the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. It’s organised by SportBusiness, a leading British sport publishing and eventing company and will attract major role players in the growing world of sport tourism.

The first day of the event will be the inaugural International Sport Tourism Conference, followed by an exhibition attended by leading international companies, bidding countries, and sport tourism suppliers.

Visit http://www.worldsportdestinationexpo.com for more information.

No past South African sports event has been subjected to the kind of critical scrutiny that 2010 FIFA World Cup is seeing, and it was only a matter of time before a book on the subject appeared. Development and Dreams, published by HSRC Press and edited by prominent South Africa social scientists Udesh Pillay, Richard Tomlinson and Orli Bass is one of the first academically orientated perspectives to capture a number o f thought-provoking discourses on the question: “Will the World Cup be a success?”

The book looks at the economic and social realities of the event, and attempts to answer the question whether the event will be economically successful and have sufficient legacies to be called worth the trouble of hosting it.

Essays by more than a dozen authors are included, making for a diverse and interesting mix of perspectives on the matter. While the book is packed with facts and figures, one can’t help sensing that many of the articles are a reflection of the subjective opinions and interpretations of the authors, rather than attempts to put objective research findings on the table. Read the rest of this entry

Three months before last year’s Confederations Cup there were much criticisms about the lack of visibility the event had on the streets, with almost a total lack of posters and billboards announcing the event.

The country has taken the criticism to heart, and this time round it’s impossible not to drive any major road in metroplitan areas without seeing signs announcing the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

As part of its World Cup mobilisation program SRSA has sponsored a number of large billboards on the city’s major highways that promote the slogal ‘Ke Nako’ – It’s Time.

The billboards will be displayed up to the start of the World Cup, and will ensure that the tens of thousands of motorists using the higways – including those traelling to and from OR Tambo International Airport – has an image of an African World Cup in their minds.

This weekend SRSA personnel and their partners from other organisations are visiting rural three venues in the Mpumalanga edition of the 2010 Mass Mobilisation Road Show.

The Road Show aims to ensure that all South Africans become a part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ excitement by encouraging and supporting sport, especially soccer, in communities throughout South Africa.  The road shows also serve as an opportunity to share information on important matters such as ticketing and match schedules. The road shows have taken place in seven of the 9 provinces across the SA between February and December 2009.

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