The Indian Premier League (IPL) is creating excitement that goes well beyond cricket fever. If the tourism authorities’ projections are correct, the monetary as well as the intangible gains to South Africa for hosting the IPL are almost too good to be true.
”The IPL will benefit numerous South African industries, especially hospitality,” said Sugen Pillay, global manager for events at South Africa Tourism.
”There is an average of 50 people per team coming from India,” he says, ”which means we will definitely be hosting over 600 people for six weeks.” Added to this, he says, are journalists from more than 100 Indian media houses, as well as executives from corporate and club sponsors.
And that’s not including the fans.
”In 2007 the T20 series attracted 5 000 visitors from India alone,” said Pillay. ”We are looking at that number, if not more, for the IPL.”
Asked how much the estimated 6 000 visitors are likely to spend in South Africa, Pillay said: ”It is hard to quantify. We haven’t been able to do any analysis.”
He said the industries that will benefit the most are hospitality and transport. This means catering companies, taxis, shuttle services, bus companies, hotels, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and local airlines.
So, let’s do the maths.
A room for two for a week at the Protea Hotel Wanderers, including breakfast, will cost R9 132. A week at the Southern Sun Newlands will cost them R7 280. If they stay for the full five weeks, they will spend about R40 000 to get some sleep.
When they get hungry, they’ll spend an average of R50 on lunch and R100 on dinner each.
They’ll pay about R200 each to get to the airport every time they need to catch a flight and, if they want to travel around to watch a number of games, they’ll pay about R900 for an internal flight on Mango or Kulula.
They’ll also spend about R50 on drinks and snacks at each game, watching an average of 10 games.
So this means that, on a rather conservative estimate, one visitor will spend about R8 000 a week.
According to Pillay, if there are any package tours being organised for Indian visitors, he is not aware of any being created from South Africa, because of the short time frame before the tournament.
Aside from the tourists, the advertising spend is also quite significant. According to an industry insider, the advertising budget for the IPL is R30-million, which will go to local media houses.
And besides all the money we’ll be getting, there are other, more indirect, but just as important benefits coming with the IPL.
”It’s a free advertising campaign,” said Margaret Dingalo, stakeholder relations director at Brand South Africa. ”India decided on South Africa because they believe 100% in what we do,” she said. ”It’s an issue of reputation.”
This is, of course, assuming that everything goes according to plan. ”With 2010, we have had a lot of nay-sayers who don’t believe in us,” said Dingalo. ”There are many people in Africa and the world watching how we do. Some people are still panicking because of the short notice and say we are setting ourselves up for a fall.”
Rich Mkhondo, chief communications officer for the 2010 Organising Committee, agreed: ”There will always be countries sceptical about us hosting the World Cup and hoping there will need to be a Plan B. But we are ready.
”Look at what has been done in these two weeks. We have the infrastructure and the capabilities. This is a feather in the cap of our ability to host the 2010 World Cup.”