News
Mpuma community to benefit from 2010 venture
22 July - The construction of the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga is taking place on 118 hectares of land which has recently been restored to the Matsafeni community.
World Cup's green legacy for Joburg
22 July - More trees, clean rivers and green playing fields are some of the long-lasting benefits from the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ that Joburg’s residents will enjoy.
See you in 2010 Madiba: Fifa
21 July - Fifa President Sepp Blatter has promised to see former South African President Nelson Mandela at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa™.
Eskom engages municipalities for 2010
18 July - An Eskom project team is working with the metro and municipal electricity departments to ensure the reliability of electricity supply to the stadiums, broadcasting centres, base camps and venues for the 2010 Fifa World Cup™, the power utility said in its annual report released on Thursday.
Nelson Mandela - SA's 2010 envoy
18 July - "The world cup will help unify people, if there is one thing in this planet that has the power to bind people together it is soccer."
Gauteng ahead of schedule for 2010
17 July - Gauteng is ahead of schedule with the construction of all host stadia ahead of the 2010 Fifa World Cup™.
Port Elizabeth to hold 2010 security exercise
16 July - The army, navy, police and airforce are set to descend on Port Elizabeth later in July to conduct a training exercise ahead of the 2010 World Cup, police said on Wednesday.
Durban's Moses Mabhida to be a year-round event
15 July - Durban has planned ahead to ensure that it's R2.6-billion Moses Mabhida Stadium is not only a single code sporting facility, but a sustainable, multi-function events theatre promising to attract people 365 days a year.
Volunteering open to all SA residents
15 July - The Local Organising Committee (LOC) says volunteering for the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup™ is open to everyone who is a legal resident of South Africa.
World Cup readiness test for Mpumalanga
11 July -The Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup, which will see countries from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) battling it out, will also be a test for Mpumalanga’s preparations towards hosting the 2010 Fifa World™ Cup matches.
2010 final venue wows Fifa
11 July - Fifa Secretary General Jerome Valcke says he was very impressed with his first visit to the iconic Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
700 days left to 2010 Fifa World Cup in SA
10 July - With 700 days left to the kickoff of the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ to be hosted in Africa for the first time, South Africa has made considerable strides to ensure that the World Cup will be a resounding success.
South Africans heed call for volunteers
10 July - The Local Organising Committee (LOC) have reported a resounding response to their call for South Africans to volunteer during the 2009 Confederations Cup™ to be held in South Africa.
14 May 2008
Interactive 2010 website to update stakeholders
Michael Appel
Durban –As part of an initiative to get 2010 Fifa World Cup™ stakeholders in touch and keep them as up-to-date with preparations and events as possible, South African Tourism (SAT) has launched the SAT Events Portal.
Global Manager for Events at SAT Sugen Pillay said the aim of the events portal was to mobilise the industry ahead of the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
"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.
"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," said Mr Pillay.
At the moment the site focuses mainly on the world cup, he said, adding that SAT wants to bring in other major events such as rugby, cricket and other lifestyle events such as jazz festivals.
Mr Pillay said the site also contains a "How to" page which will explain 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.
"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," Mr Pillay said.
Stakeholders will be able to go onto the site and upload any event that they have happening, highlighting one of the best features of the website being its interactive nature allowing stakeholders to download, upload and correct information on the site, under management and moderation by SAT.
Under the 2010 Tourism Organising Plan - which is a 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 Local Organising Committee (LOC) members and host city officials.
"For us one of the most important things in the accommodation sector, is one of the legacy that the world cup is going to leave behind is it is going to create the opportunity for more and more accommodation establishments in this country to be graded.
"What this means is there will be quality assurance within the tourism industry - especially of non-hotels.
"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.”
To register and gain access to the SAT Events Portal, go to http://events.southafrica.net.
Source: BuaNews