by AKANI CHAUKE
News Editor
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – SOUTH African Tourism (SA Tourism) is harnessing the country’s appeal as an attractive leisure and business events destination.
This is part of concerted efforts towards accelerating the sector’s recovery.
South Africa is aggressively driving the implementation of the Tourism Sector Recovery Plan (TSRP), as the sector emerges from the devastation of the COVID-19.
The sector, in collaboration with all the key role players, has been putting measures in place to ensure barriers like visa approvals, safety and security, and direct airlift into South Africa are a priority.
TSRP outlines the importance of forming targeted and strategic partnerships between the government and the private sector as a tool for the effective implementation of recovery initiatives.
A collaboration between SA Tourism and the car manufacturer, BMW, is thus poised to supercharge the country’s efforts towards the implementation of the TSRP, while gaining access to aggregated audiences through sport and golf in particular.
This collaboration brings together SA Tourism and BMW for the BMW International Open taking place in June 2023 in Munich, Germany and BMW Golf Cup World Finals in March 2024, to be hosted at one of South Africa’s most prestigious golfing destinations, The Fancourt Luxury Golf Estate.
With over 450 million enthusiasts around the globe, the appeal of golf is seen as undeniable and South Africa stands as a premier golfing destination.
The aim of the collaboration with BMW for the two sporting events is to gain access to this highly premium, influential set of golfing fans.
This will give SA Tourism access to a global audience, especially in key source markets but also stimulate domestic golf tourism.
These two upcoming events are poised captivate viewers across the globe with a broadcast that spans an impressive 162 countries, encompassing a total of 2 040 hours of broadcasting time and boasting a potential household reach of 683,6 million, according to BMW Golf Sports.
“At South African Tourism, our bid to ensure a full tourism recovery has necessitated that we apply step change strategies in an effort to showcase South Africa as a safe, capable and premier destination for business and leisure travellers,” said Sindile Xulu, Acting Regional General Manager South Africa/Head of Strategic Projects.
South Africa is a mecca of the sports world.
In 2020, it hosted the first-ever FIFA World Cup on African soil.
It boasts three Rugby World Cup titles.
This year, the nation has already welcomed the T20 Women’s World Cup.
The Netball World Cup is set for July 2023, to further propel South Africa’s status as a top-tier sporting events destination.
South Africa and BMW have a long-lasting history since the founding of BMW South Africa in 1973.
The BMW Group Rosslyn Plant was the first production facility outside Germany.
“We are very glad to strengthen this bond with the partnership between South African Tourism and BMW in the area of golf,” said Alexander Kotouc, Head of Experiental Marketing BMW Group.
– CAJ News