South Africa planned to bid for the 2036 or 2040 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the government said last week.
In a statement on the meeting of November 12, Cabinet gave South Africa the go-ahead to enter continuous dialogue with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in support of its planned bid for the 2036 or 2040 Olympics.
“Cabinet is confident of South Africa’s readiness to host the Olympics, given South Africa’s available infrastructure,” said the statement.
The opportunities, should South Africa succeed with its bid, are enormous, according to Illana Pereira, Managing Executive for Tourvest Destination Management Sports & Events.
“The Olympic Games is a major sporting tournament which attracts a massive number of travellers from around the world. This would be in the form of individuals looking to support athletes competing in the games, corporate companies running incentive and activation programmes, athletic bodies and associations and a huge contingent of media, press and influencers. Therefore, the biggest impact will be felt from an inbound tourism perspective.
“However, from a local perspective you could expect South Africans to travel to the host destination and South African corporates to take full advantage of the opportunity to run incentive and brand activation programmes,” said Pereira.
