SA Tourism launches events portal
Michael Appel
19 May 2008
South African Tourism (SAT) has launched an online events portal as part of an initiative to keep in touch with 2010 Fifa World Cup stakeholders, keeping them up to date with preparations and informing them of upcoming events in the country.
"There was a huge gap in the industry over the last two years as to regular and accurate information with what's happening in 2010, and this was an attempt to address that gap," said SAT events global manager Sugen Pillay at the Tourism Indaba in Durban last week.
"We launched in April 2008, which is when we had a soft launch ... we also went out to key partners and provided a training programme for our key partners like the host cities and the provincial tourism authorities in order to use the events portal properly."
While the website focuses mainly on the upcoming football World Cup at the moment, he said that SAT wanted to bring in other major sporting events such as rugby and cricket, as well as other lifestyle events like jazz festivals.
Showcasing South African events
Pillay said the site contains a "How to" page which explains everything from how to log in and register, to how to load information and update details on the site.
The site also contains a news page, which contains all news relevant to an event such as the World Cup, including progress reports from host cities and local and provincial tourism bodies.
"We have picked up that there are 800 events that are happening in South Africa on an annual basis, now that is a lot of events," he said. "A lot of people are not aware of these events, so we want to provide a platform to give the consumer a wide variety of things when they come to South Africa, but also to give stakeholders of events the opportunity to publicise and showcase their events."
Stakeholders will be able to go onto the site and upload any event that they have happening, he said, highlighting that one of the best features of the website was its interactive nature that allowed stakeholders to download, upload and correct information on the site, under management and moderation by SAT.
Comprehensive information
Under the 2010 Tourism Organising Plan - the blue print for how the industry operates - the portal has highlighted six priority projects including accommodation, statistics, marketing and communication, safety and security, service levels and transport.
The website contains a comprehensive contact list with the names and numbers of everyone involved in the tourism industry and with the 2010 Fifa World Cup including the contact details of 2010 Local Organising Committee members and host city officials.
Pillay said that one of the most important benefits for the accommodation sector would be the legacy that would be left behind after the World Cup has come and gone, by providing the opportunity for more establishments around the country to be graded.
"For the first time in the history of the world cup you are going to non-hotels that are part of staging this huge event, and I think the target set is about 5 000 rooms that they want to grade and contract," he said. "If you are a B&B; owner, he said, the site would be perfect to give you access to information on how to get graded and the processes involved."
Interested persons are urged to register at the SAT Events Portal to gain access to the information on the site.
Source: BuaNews
