Having a blast

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

It’s impossible to escape the fervour, fever and vuvuzelas that the 2010 FIFA World Cup has infected South Africa with. Noisy blasts can be heard, day and night – and it’s amazing how many of them come from non-South Africans! Italian, Paraguayan, Algerian, French, Portuguese, Korean and English fans have boosted sales of the plastic horns no end. English retailers notched up sales of 60 000 vuvuzelas in old Blighty during the first week alone…

What’s the point? Everyone’s having a blast! And it is not just in the major metropolitan centres where the effect of the World Cup is being felt. Stellenbosch was adopted by the Algerians ahead of their match against England – and the North African fans fell in love with the Eikestad, supporting pubs and restaurants and making friends with the locals.

And with Americans occupying second spot in the ticket sales stakes, they’ve been prominent too – particularly visiting top flight wine farms. They are not alone in being bowled over by the touristic offering. In the past week I’ve been exposed to Korean, English, Mexican and Venezuelan fans who are all uniform in their praise for the warmth of the people, the excellence of the cuisine, the quality of the wine and the sheer jaw-dropping beauty of the country.

While detractors may point out the number of guest houses and hotels not experiencing the bumper pay-days anticipated, all indications are that in the long term South Africa will score massively from the exposure granted during the tournament. Everyone needs to think tantrically rather than going for immediate gratification…