2010 Soccer World Cup – South Africa Gears Up

Stadiums, Vuvuzelas and Sustainable Tourism

Jun 21, 2009

Preparations for the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa are running according to schedule. Most of the stadiums are almost completed and excitement is building.

Organizers know that South Africa will be ready to host the Soccer World Cup in 2010, despite rumors about problems with security, tickets, stadiums, and transportation. South Africans say they are ready to welcome visitors to what many football supporters describe as “the greatest show on earth.” Past World Cups have a legacy of records that have become part of popular lore.

Now that the initial panic about obvious issues has died down, people are talking about the transformation of the tourism sector and whether the Vuvuzela would be banned or not.

More Sustainable Tourism

In his recent Budget address, South African Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said: “As we prepare to host the first ever African Soccer World Cup and the biggest sporting spectacular in the world, we are witnessing not only huge public sector investment, but also massive new investment by the tourism industry itself.”

He stressed that special emphasis is being placed on the development of rural tourism, which will create job opportunities and develop skills that will increase the employability of thousands of people.

“We are building a re-energized tourism department with a renewed focus on sustainable tourism growth to the benefit of all South Africans,” said Mr van Schalkwyk.

The Vuvuzela will stay! Sepp Blatter, FIFA President, says visitors to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Afrrica must get used to the noise. “I have always said that when we go to South Africa, we go to Africa, it’s noisy, it’s something else than in western parts of the world, it is drums, so we have to adapt a little,” says Blatter.

For the uninitiated, the Vuvuzela is a plastic, brightly colored, meter long air horn that has become synonymous with South African soccer. General consensus: it sounds like a swarm of angry bees.

Some people complained during the recent Confederation Cup that the Vuvu's were making too much noise and needed to be banned.

2010 Stadiums Nearing Completion

The Stadiums that will be used during the 2010 Soccer World Cup are Greenpoint in Cape Town; Ellis Park and Soccer City in Johannesburg; Moses Mabhida in Durban; Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein; Port Elizabeth Stadium; Mbombela in Nelspruit; Peter Mokaba in Polokwane, Loftus Versveld in Pretoria and Royal Bafokeng in Rustenburg.

Luke Bentley is a high school pupil and blogger from Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape who has been documenting the construction of the 2010 Soccer World Cup Stadium in his city and others around the country on his blog 2010 Stadium Watch.

As the countdown continues, excitement builds in South Africa and Africa for the kickoff to the African Soccer World Cup.

The copyright of the article 2010 Soccer World Cup – South Africa Gears Up in International Soccer is owned by Karen Lotter. Permission to republish 2010 Soccer World Cup – South Africa Gears Up in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.