SA bids to host Gay Games
Lucille Davie
10 January 2005
Johannesburg and Cape Town will be teaming up against Paris, Berlin and Cologne in a joint bid to host the eighth Gay Games in 2010, the same year South Africa hosts the Soccer World Cup.
The Gay Games have been running since 1982. The inaugural event, held in San Francisco, attracted over 1 300 athletes participating in 14 disciplines.
By the fourth games, held in New York in 1994, over 10 000 athletes competed in around 30 disciplines. The fifth games, held in Amsterdam, saw over 14 000 athletes participating. The next Gay Games take place in Chicago in 2006.
"Our logistical capacity and organisational and administrative competence are bringing international attention", says Johannesburg Tourism Company (JTC) CEO Deon Viljoen. "We think we have a great chance on this one."
Initial sponsors of the bid effort include the JTC, Southern Sun Hotels, Lufthansa, the City of Johannesburg and the Gay and Lesbian Equality Project.
Viljoen says Cape Town and Johannesburg decided to work together instead of competing for the games in order to increase South Africa's chances of winning the bid.
Cape Town, a city that markets itself as the gay capital of South Africa, will not miss out on the action if the bid succeeds - a cultural festival will take place in the city, with competitors heading south once their events have taken place in Johannesburg.
The fact that South Africa has already won the 2010 World Cup bid, and that it successfully hosted the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, will count in its favour.
The Gay Games website indicates that the financial spin-offs for Amsterdam and Sydney each totalled around US$55-million. It is estimated that the financial benefits for Johannesburg could total R500-million.
South Africa participated in the Gay Games in New York in 1994 with a team of 14 athletes; 50 South Africans competed in Sydney in 2002. It is likely that
the South African contingent in 2010 will be larger if Johannesburg hosts the games. South Africans have won gold, silver and bronze medals at the games since 1994.
The games have featured disciplines like cycling, aquatics, golf, tennis, soccer, wrestling, martial arts and figure skating. If Johannesburg wins the bid, disciplines like rugby, cricket, bowls and pansula dancing are likely to be added to the competition.
Athletes do not have to be gay to compete, or internationally ranked. Categories are divided by age so that competitors of any age can enter.
Major conferences coming Joburg's way
On another note, Viljoen says that the JTC has been busy scooping several major conferences for the city: in 2005 the World Petroleum Congress, in 2006 the World Disabled People's Assembly, in 2009 the World Internal Audit Conference, and in 2010 the International Congress of Paediatrics, to be held at the Sandton Convention Centre.
But it's not just conferences and congresses that are coming Joburg's way. In March 2005 the city hosts the Holidaymakers Expo, a consumer exhibition that debuts in the city and which aims to become an annual event.
The emphasis at the Expo will be on the multitude of holiday destinations in and around the city, and to this end a memorandum of understanding has been signed between the Holidaymakers Expo and the JTC, a Section 21 company funded by the city.
"We have a wealth of tourist attractions and places of interest right here in the heart of Johannesburg and in the greater Johannesburg area", says Viljoen.
The Expo will showcase every aspect of holidays - summer or winter, at the coast or inland, at hotels, leisure resorts and game reserves.
"Our commitment is three-fold", Viljoen says. "To encourage business and leisure visitors to our city to spend an extra day or two in Johannesburg; to urge local residents to get to know all the fascinating
places right on their doorstep; and to add a new exhibition to the already extensive arsenal of trade and consumer events in Johannesburg."
As if to endorse this, the city plays host to the famous Moscow Circus in a 2 500-seater big top at Montecasino in January 2005.
Visitor guides to Joburg
And to help the visitors make the most of the city, the JTC has recently launched its second annual "Ultimate Visitors' Guide & Events Calendar". This will be complemented by two sets of area maps highlighting unique attractions in each area.
The first map is of Alexandra, Sandton and Greater Rosebank, including Midrand, and the second is of the Heart of the City and the Glorious South, including Newtown, the CBD, Braamfontein, Soweto and Lenasia. Viljoen says there'll be 20 different maps by the end of 2005.
He says these publications will be distributed locally and internationally, and will "fill a real need to introduce Johannesburg
as an exciting and vibrant destination to residents and visitors alike".
The JTC also has plans to publish a series of sectoral maps. In the first half of 2005 the following sectors will be covered: golf courses and golfing events; "pink" places and events; restaurants; and a map for high-spend shopping, supplemented by a map on bulk-buy shopping.
In addition, eight tourism nodes have been identified in Johannesburg. They are the Johannesburg Inner City district, southern Johannesburg, Greater Rosebank, Soweto, Alexandra, Sandton, Roodepoort, Randburg and Midrand.
Each has its distinctive cultural and tourism attractions, which will be marketed through destination marketing organisations and a clustering of local business communities, like hotels, restaurants, travel agencies and car rental firms.
The JTC will act as liaison agent, ensuring that these businesses take responsibility for tourism culture, products and developments in their respective areas.
The Sandton Tourism Association and the Southern Johannesburg Association are examples of two destination marketing organisations already established. Recently the Alexandra and the Soweto Tourism Associations re-assembled.
The City has also just published a coffee table book entitled "City of Johannesburg, world-class African city".
Source: City of Johannesburg
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