Leading global business and audit advisory firm Grant Thornton has argued that, while disappointing, the early exit of Bafana Bafana from the 2010 FIFA World Cup also opened up the space for additional foreign tourists to spend more money, fill hotels and to attend games.

“It makes our projected number of about 370 000 foreign visitors even more achievable,” strategic solutions director Lee-Anne Bac said – the company’s initial forecast was for 483 000 visitors, but that was revised down, following the global financial crisis.

She noted that there was still a buoyant atmosphere, which clearly indicated that the nation was behind the World Cup event as hosts and that the people were not merely supporters of the national squad.

Grant Thornton director Gillian Saunders told Engineering News that the fact that the US and England teams qualified for the knockout stages was particularly positive.

“After England qualified for the knock- out stage, there was an increase in the number of enquiries about flights from the UK to South Africa,” says Saunders.

She argued that the event would deliver benefits, but said that the direct expenditure would not be as much as the money invested by government.

The gross economic impact would be R93-billion, with 62% expected to be generated pre-2010 and 38% during the course of this year.

Foreign tourism would account for 16% of the gross impact. Most of the economic spend would come from the national govern- ment’s spend on infrastructure and some operational expenditure. This had increased significantly, compared with original budgets, from R17,4-billion (2007) to R30,3-billion, with a further R9-billion or more spent by cities and provinces.

“Government spend has fast-tracked infrastructure development, road upgrades, new stadiums and legacies in host cities. It has also [enhanced] national pride, confidence, integration and a ‘can do’ attitude,” said Saunders.

Germany also grew national pride by hosting the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

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