SA Tourism acting CEO Themba Khumalo again rallied behind a proposed multimillion-rand sponsorship of English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, saying sports clubs were a viable option with “guaranteed returns on investment”.
The deal, which could see the words “Visit South Africa” on the footballers’ sleeves for three years at a cost of £42.5m (R910m) has been roundly criticised by hard-pressed South Africans battling persistent load-shedding, poor service delivery, high inflation, unemployment and a rising cost of living.
Tourism, which accounts for about 8.6% of GDP and supports about 1.5-million jobs, lost more than R54bn as a result of Covid-19 lockdowns, making it one of the biggest casualties of the pandemic.
Khumalo previously defended the proposal, saying money invested in tourism was not the same as that required to address the country’s pressing socioeconomic challenges such as the energy or infrastructure crises.
SA Tourism board members Enver Duminy, Ravi Nadasen and Rosemary Anderson saw otherwise and resigned. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, has said the president wasn’t briefed on the matter, adding: “We do not think spending so much money in the manner that is being suggested will be justified.”
In a presentation of the proposed deal to parliament’s tourism portfolio committee on Tuesday, Khumalo said tourism boards partnering with international sports clubs has become a marketing avenue with “Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Rwanda, Australia, Mauritius and Thailand ... all grabbing opportunities”.
“The fact that clubs have big fan databases, huge global television audiences and social media audiences, playing squads that have players from different countries, marketing inventory across TV and in stadium platforms, makes partnering with a sports club an attractive and viable option with guaranteed returns on investment,” he said.
“In 2018 Rwanda signed a deal with Arsenal Football Club to promote the Rwanda Tourism sector through their ‘Visit Rwanda’ campaign. This deal, which incorporated shirt and stadium rights, can be directly linked to an 8% increase in tourism numbers to Rwanda in the year following the contract signing.”
Khumalo said the proposed deal will be structured “as a media deal as main deliverables of the partnership [are] around broadcast, digital and social media. A partnership with THFC [Tottenham Hotspur Football Club] will deliver £270m (R5.6bn) of total media value across the term [2023/2024 to 2025/2026]”.
The partnership value would include kit branding, interview backdrop branding, match-day advertising and a right to organise a training camp in SA.
Khumalo said that according to the 2022 Global Web Index, 63% of football fans like to explore the world, 60% are interested in other cultures and countries, 84% are more likely to plan a purchase and “118% are more likely to travel on a long-haul flight once a year”.
By 2030 the total contribution of travel and tourism to SA’s GDP will be about R597bn, “contributing to 1.9-million total jobs ... Cumulative [arrivals] for the January 2022 to December 2022 period increased by 152.6% to reach 5.698-million compared to the 2.255-million in the same period in 2021”, he said.
“The total number of arrivals from Europe in this period of 2022 was 900,703. Arrivals from the Americas increased by 228% and represented 326,200 arrivals.”
According to the presentation, total foreign direct spend more than doubled to R59.6bn in 2022, with Africa contributing the highest share — R23.3bn, an increase of 120.7% — followed by Europe with R21.5bn, Americas R10.009bn, Asia R2.090bn, Australasia R1.6bn, and Middle East R1.089bn.
Khumalo acknowledged the effects of Covid-19 on the sector, saying: “For SA Tourism to break through the noise and reclaim our position in the global travel community, we will need a step-change growth strategy and a series of big strategic and specific actions to reassert our position above pre-pandemic performance measures.”
Sisulu explains
Tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s spokesperson Steve Motale rejected reports that Sisulu had snubbed the parliamentary portfolio committee on tourism.
“The minister did attend the portfolio meeting. What happened is: she made an apology that she was going to a cabinet committee meeting that was called by the president in preparation of the state of the nation address, which was happening at the same time as the parliamentary one,” Motale told Business Day. “After that cabinet committee meeting, she rushed to the tourism portfolio committee meeting.”
Tandi Mahambehlala, chair of parliament’s portfolio committee on tourism, said: “That deal is off, it should not even begin, that’s what it means, so it’s not going to happen.”
But Sisulu thought otherwise. “We understand the view of the committee and the committee chair, but, unfortunately, this being a matter of national interest, only the president can make that decision. I think we go to him to be the one who takes the final decision,” the minister said.
Update: February 7, 2023
This story has been updated with new information.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.