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South African Tourism wants to sponsor football club Tottenham Hotspur – is it a good idea?

South African Tourism wants to sponsor football club Tottenham Hotspur – is it a good idea?

SOUTH African Tourism (SA Tourism) is reported to be planning to spend US$52 million (about R900 million) to sponsor UK football team Tottenham Hotspur over three years. The proposal gives the country branding on the club’s kit, backdrop branding in interviews, advertising on match days, partnership status, local training camps and access to tickets and stadium hospitality. Football has a massive TV viewership and can attract big spending and big eyeballs. But is it an effective way to market a country? And is it money well spent? Brendon Knott researches nation branding and football. We asked him four questions. Author…
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S.Africa tourism sector cautiously hopeful as borders set to reopen

S.Africa tourism sector cautiously hopeful as borders set to reopen

WENDELL ROELF SOUTH Africa's pandemic-battered tourism sector on Thursday welcomed a government decision to allow international travel from October 1 but officials worried restrictions on key markets facing high infection rates could curtail any recovery. President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday eased lockdown restrictions, among the world's strictest at the height of South Africa's outbreak, in a bid to revive the economy. Uncertainty over still unpublished travel regulations however, is tempering hopes of a quick recovery for the tourism sector, which contributes nearly 9% of GDP but has been devastated by massive job losses and business closures. "If we do not…
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With borders closed, South Africa pins hopes on cash-strapped local tourists

With borders closed, South Africa pins hopes on cash-strapped local tourists

WENDELL ROELF LISA Krohn’s Ashanti Lodge in Cape Town - normally abuzz with backpackers from around the world - today sits largely empty, a sign of how the pandemic has crushed South Africa’s tourist industry. “This place is like a morgue,” she said, contemplating the Victorian-era building’s deserted foyer. Following a five-month lockdown, South Africa is easing domestic travel restrictions, allowing hotels to reopen. With international borders still closed, the government is pinning its hopes on domestic tourism, echoing a strategy being tried from Vietnam to New Zealand with mixed results. South Africa remains among the countries hardest hit by…
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