19 May 2009
Mauritius has teamed up with Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and hosts South Africa in a top line-up of southern African accommodation providers for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
The countries will all feature in the official tour operator programme as well as the hospitality programme managed by 2010 accommodation provider Match, ensuring that visiting football fans get to enjoy the numerous attractions the southern African region has to offer.
“One of the principal objectives of our overall strategy has been to use the 2010 Fifa World Cup as a launching pad to brand and develop the entire region as a preferred tourism and investment destination,” 2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC) chief executive Danny Jordaan said in a statement last week.
“The geographic proximity and quality of [Mauritius’] hotels is ideal to develop packages to allow fans to fully explore the unique diversity of the southern African region.”
Speaking at the announcement of the initiative at the 2009 Tourism Indaba in Durban last week, Mauritius’ vice prime minister, Xavier Luc Duval, said the government and the people of Mauritius were “very excited to become an integral part of the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
“The excellent quality of our accommodation, our picturesque environment and wonderful beaches, together with the warm and inviting hospitality of the Mauritian people, will give an added experience to the fans,” Duval said.
Fifa secretary-general Jerome Valcke said the 2010 accommodation programme offered a “great marketing opportunity for the tourism industry in the entire southern African region.
“Mauritius and the other southern African countries in the accommodation team have the unique chance to showcase to fans from all over the world during the four weeks between 11 June and 11 July 2010 the splendid and diverse landscapes and the incredible hospitality the region has to offer,” Valcke said.
SAinfo reporter
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