2010 World cup soccer - A property marketing opportunity for
South Africa
After the euphoria of winning the bid to host the 2010 Soccer
World Cup, South Africans in all sectors must now work
together to ensure that this opportunity is fully utilized for
the long-term benefit of the entire country.
Hosting this major sporting event will be a massive boost to
our economy and it is expected that almost R 30 billion will
flow into South Africa, spurring economic growth to between 5
and 6 percent, while creating an estimated 150 000 jobs. The
impact on the property market will be enormous.
South Africa is currently enjoying a strong position and
consumer confidence is buoyant. International buyers, locals and
expatriates are major buyers of South African properties.
The property market will do well to use the 2010
Soccer World Cup as a platform to aggressively market property in South Africa, which is still undervalued in global
terms and offer exceptional value for money.
South
African property is likely to receive a major boost from
2010 - if the World Cup is a success. Paris "France"
property prices escalated by as much as 55% over a one
year period before and after the 2002 Word Cup and
property across the city made astronomical gains with the
prices of apartments close to some of the stadiums rocketing by
over 100% over the same period.
Some neglected neighborhoods in Paris were completely
rejuvenated. The same will happen in South Africa, because
although we have had a good run, in global terms our
property is still undervalued and the macroeconomic
outlook is very favorable.
Hosting an Olympic Games or World Cup encourages urban
regeneration and is usually accompanied by an improvement in
facilities, transport links and overall infrastructure. Yet, a
closer look at the lessons of the Olympic Games hosted in Athens
means a lot of work needs to be done - especially in marketing
South Africa as a destination.
There is a lot to be learned from the Greek Olympic experience
on how best to sell South Africa as a desirable country and etch
ourselves into the minds of tourists and investors for a long
time to come. Greece did not fully capitalize on the Olympics to
promote itself and its property
market to the extent that former Olympic host cities
Barcelona and Sydney did - and lost out on some of the benefits
of hosting a major international event.
Perhaps they were a bit complacent and thought just because
they