The Member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Development in the City of Johannesburg, Councillor Nomoya Mnisi, has announced an exciting destination marketing collaboration between Joburg Tourism Company and Gauteng Central Lions. “It’s wonderful when good plans come together but even more thrilling when potentially great partnerships are forged in the process.
The announcement at the renowned Wanderers Club has been a long time coming, with negotiations and due diligence dating back as far as April 2021 between the Lions Cricket Club and the Johannesburg Tourism Company,” said Mnisi at the Lions annual awards ceremony at the Wanderers Club on Saturday, 27 May 2023.
The collaboration seeks to turn around destination marketing and unlocking sports tourism in Johannesburg. The three year Memorandum of Understanding is underpinned by the following elements:
(i) Destination brand awareness to re-position Joburg and gain competitive edge!
(ii) Destination reputation management to create City’s positive image!
(iii) Relief on joint operations committee costs on event days.
(iv) Relief on stadium tower lights to increase frequency of evening matches.
(v) To attract more events into the 32 000-seater Wanderers Stadium – a place where Jozi meets!
The fact that the Melrose-based Wanderers is in the golden triangle of retail in Africa: Sandton, Melrose Arch and Rosebank, makes it a priority tourism node.
“As a new identified niche area in our strategy, sports tourism is gaining momentum in Johannesburg and has been identified as providing an exciting way of marketing the city as a preferred tourist destination,” added Cllr Mnisi.
The successful hosting of a sports tourism event can lead to substantial increases in visitation and tourism revenue, as well as to a heightened sense of pride among the community members in the host city.
South Africa is considered one of the top countries in the world for hosting sports competitions through major cities like Johannesburg, thanks to a wonderful track record for delivering as a host nation for global sporting events.
The Johannesburg Tourism Company with take advantage of using its assets in collaboration with Lions Cricket Club optimally to increase visitor in-flows to unlock sports tourism potential, create to opportunities for jobs and SMMEs, and build a favourable image for the destination given the fact that the Wanderers Stadium will host various world-class cricket matches and other events.
Some highlights include hosting the ICC Cricket World Cup Final in 2003, the ICC World T20 Final, the IPL Final, FIFA 2010 Goodwill Cup, the 16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, Davis Cup, Neon Run, Cookout, POP Bottles, Top Billing Auditions, Weddings, Product Launches and the Holi Festival of Colours.
“Through this collaborative proposition tourism as a key economic sector in the City contributes can towards the realisation of Mayoral Priority Nine (9) – Sustained Economic Growth guided by the City’s Growth and Development Strategy 2040, outcome three (3) – through the promotion of business and leisure tourism,” said MMC Mnisi.
“As Government of Local Unity we need to do everything possible to create an environment for economic growth so that entrepreneurs and businesses can invest and create the jobs that will continue to make Joburg the city of opportunities.
“This will bring employment and investment to the local economy. We look forward to working together with our Central Gauteng Lions to building the economy of this wonderful city.”
30/05/2023