Our World Cup Runneth Over

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Our World Cup Runneth Over

Some mean spirited people in the media are calling it ‘The Tournament That Shall Not Be Named’ (TTTSNBN) – but who cares about them? It kicks off tomorrow, it’s big, it’s brash, it’s loud and eet ees yere. And boy, I don’t remember this country having so much fun since, what? 1996? (Oh sweet victory! Oh, sweet boot of Joel Stransky!).

But, of course, there are those who are trying to de-Gautrain it, too.

Here in on our side of the goal line, it seems there are some who prefer to protect ‘our’ local teams – Japan, France, Denmark (I live in the Garden Route) – from the prying eyes of community-based publications by leaving titles like mine (www.motionmag.co.za and www.thistourismweek.co.za) off their Christmas lists.

The big guys, of course, are getting theirs (their media releases, that is), but we’re not – and not, according to the football federations’ media guys, because they (the federations) don’t want us around. (All of which explains why I missed reporting on Denmark’s apparently awesome appearance at Percy Mdala High School in Bongani Township yesterday).

It seems that someone has decided that ‘soccer isn’t tourism,’ and that we little guys – because of the nature of the economy in our area – are tourism-driven. So we don’t count.

Yeah, like the local municipalities aren’t tourism-driven?

And soccer isn’t WHAT?

But yip, that’s the argument. Or so we’ve heard.

There’s no accounting for some…

But when – WHEN? –  are people in government in South Africa (particularly at provincial, district, and local level) going to recognise the importance of tourism to the GDP? (Yes, I know that tourism contributes more to the economy than mining. But who in government knows it, too?)

Still, in the bigger scheme of things, these are little niggles – coz: If you go down to the streets today,

You better go in disguise,
Coz every fan that ever there was
Is going to be there for certain becoz
Today’s the day the country has it’s pic-nic …

And the country’s certainly on the jorl (see the ‘Flag of the Mag’ vid on the Motion Mag site – a short film that was shot and edited by our office manager, Jeffrey Chipetta, a young man who’s just blossoming. No matter how much fertiliser we toss at him).

And what’s happening on the streets at the moment proves that the people of South Africa are ready, willing, and, most of all, more than capable of building a nation. Themselves. Without the politicians and the panjandrums.

No, we never did get the millions of fans that the Government (and its lap dog, the Local Organising Committee), promised – but this here? This is the real deal.

And, too, the thing that we, the tourism industry, should be taking from the World Cup and putting into our marketing arsenal (yes, I know: a terrible sporting pun), is this: we need to market our people, their sophistication (in so many ways, at so many levels), their warmth, their humour, their colour, their diversity, and their ability to pull together when they really have to.

Hell, even Bafana Bafana have stepped up to the plate (if you’ll forgive a mixed sporting metaphor).

White people are suddenly showing that they love soccer as much as they love rugby – in the same way that the Stormers-Bulls Super 14 final at Orlando Stadium proved that black people love rugby as much as they love soccer. (And, too, that they love having their white neighbours visit them on their home ground.)

All of which means that the monetary cost of the FIFA World Cup 2010 has been worth it after all – because this tournament has united the nation at a time when we needed it most (needed it thanks, of course, to those aforementioned politicians and panjandrums – who, because they no longer have a common enemy, have decided to fight amongst themselves. And to try and get us, the people, to do so, too).

So don’t call me after one o’clock on Friday, the 11th of June. Because I’ll be out there somewhere, in some revolting, smoky pub (I hate pubs), watching the opening ceremony, and the game against Mexico, and getting all teary-eyed.

And being, at last, like you, a regte, egte (uh, ‘genuine’) South African.

Heads Up

• A young tourism graduate with four years experience is looking for work on my Jobs in Tourism page – and remember that this service is free to job seekers (there’s a modest fee for companies offering positions);
• After my last article on voluntourism, Paul Miedema of Calabash Tours, and the Calabash Trust decided to share his paper – Reflections on Voluntourism – with readers of This Tourism Week. It’s on line here, or you can download it in pdf  or MSWord format;
• Want to see Cape Town’s Green Point Stadium from the inside?  There’s a virtual tour on This Tourism Week  – courtesy of John Gore (his blog’s here).
• … And I found the most beautiful pictures of our preparations for the World Cup on boston.com – treat yourself. Here.

A New Service to Tourism: CD & DVD Printing & Burning

If you were there at Indaba this year, you’ll have noticed the trend: people don’t want printed brochures anymore. They want their information electronically.

Spun, so to speak, not stirred.

Motion Mag – a sister business to This Tourism Week – now has the equipment for printing and burning up to 800 CDs or DVDs a day at our facility in Knysna – at very competitive rates.

And, of course, Motion Mag can also help with production or collation of the data you need on your CDs, too – everything from writing articles about your property to producing videos about it, and from presentations, to photography, and brochures (yes, electronically or in print format).

For more, please contact me – Martin Hatchuel (martin@motionmag.co.za). Or go here.

Now: enjoy the World Cup – and go away on holiday while your at it. It’s in the economy’s best interests.