Across most parts of Africa, domestic and international soccer is in action, giving clubs and administrators a lifeline to earn and survive. But the most important part of the sport is to have audiences attending the matches, which however, is not yet allowed due to Covid-19 restrictions. This has resulted in many people who rely on sports tourism to lament the delay in opening up of stadiums. To unpack how this has affected sports tourism, especially in South Africa, our journalist, Martin Chemhere, talks to Dr Esmarie Myburgh, Senior Lecturer, Sport Tourism, Management and Marketing, Potchefstroom University. Nomad Africa: What has been the impact of lockdowns like to the South African sports tourism ecosystem? Dr Esmarie Myburgh: The Covid-19 pandemic has influenced the sport tourism section in a way that has never been seen before. Restrictions and lockdown regulations has led to a dramatic decrease in sport tourism and has resulted in the cancellation and postponement of a variety of sporting events around the world. The most noticeable victim the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In South Africa lockdown has forced the cancelation of some of annual sport events such as the Two Oceans Marathon, the ABSA Cape Epic, the Athletics South Africa Athletics Grand Prix Series, the SPAR Women’s Challenge, Super Rugby, as well as the Premier Soccer League. While many people see events as only losing entrance fees and match-day income from merchandise and food sales, the impact is much larger. Cancelled sport events also leads to empty hotels, restaurants…
Get exclusive access to this story
Subscribe to Nomad Africa and get unlimited access to our exclusive articles on African cultural heritage, travel tips, tourism news updates, industry trends and insights. Your subscription will also help support tourism in Africa. Subscription starts from only R15 ($1 USD) per month.*
Already a subscriber? Login here
*Charged for the first month after which standard rates apply. Cancel anytime.
...
