Durban - SA did not have a well-defined and integrated sports tourism strategy despite having built a strong track record for hosting major global sporting events, including the rugby, cricket and soccer world cups.
But Deputy Sports Minister Gert Oosthuizen told delegates at the Sports and Events Tourism Exchange conference in Durban on Wednesday that the first Sports Tourism Strategy for SA was expected to be finalised by the end of the year.
“We call for comment not just from the tourism industry, but sports organisations and federations,” he said.
Oosthuizen said they would be working closely with the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) and the tourism industry to finalise the strategy after discussions at the conference.
“The plan is part of our commitment to increasing sports tourism and its contribution to the national economy… We have to take a long-term look at developing sports tourism,” he said.
Oosthuizen hinted that SA might yet bid for an Olympic Games, saying the country had the capacity to do so and that after the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Africa would be the only continent to have not hosted the Games.
Gideon Sam, president of Sascoc, said
: “We need to pull together all the sporting codes and bodies, as well as the tourism industry and Department of Sports and Recreation, to have a proper strategy in place to bring global events here… It is not just about the Olympics. There are numerous other events we can bring to SA,” he said.
“We need to get our act together or risk losing out.” - The Mercury