The Western Cape Government is excited at local events sector roaring back to life again
With all Covid-19 restrictions now behind South Africa, the Western Cape Government is firmly focused on economic recovery and job creation. The key to this is rejuvenating the province’s events sector, which was among the biggest casualties of the pandemic.
This coming Saturday’s South Africa and Wales rugby Test series decider at DHL Stadium is just one opportunity to help revive the sector.
Filling the 62 000 capacity DHL Stadium will give Cape Town’s events industry that much-needed push to claw back revenue and jobs, while at the same time confirming the city and province’s reputation as important tourist and investment destinations.
The Western Cape Government cannot wait to see packed stands once again at the venue.
In the past major sporting events, such as Rugby Sevens tournaments, have injected hundreds of millions into the local economy. One such tournament staged at DHL Stadium several years ago, brought in more than R750 million alone.
But such sporting extravaganzas had to be put on hold for over two years due to Covid-19. The full reopening of the events sector, with restrictions like limits on crowd sizes, now scrapped, is critical to aiding the province’s general economic revival, and this coming Saturday’s match is the perfect opportunity to announce: the Mother City and Western Cape are open for business again.
“We are delighted that we will once again see a full stadium in the Western Cape, after what has been a difficult two years for our events economy,” Provincial Finance and Economic Opportunities Minister, Mireille Wenger said.
The Minister added: “This is not only a moment to celebrate our country and the Springboks, but it is also symbolic of the recovery that we are seeing in our tourism and hospitality sector. A full stadium means more jobs, and so we look forward to many more sold out events across the province.”
Provincial Cultural Affairs and Sport Minister, Anroux Marais, said: “Sports tourism is an important contributor to our local economy.”
The Minister added through bringing full capacity crowds to our stadia, we support not only our sports federations but also vendors, cleaning staff, security teams, and every other person and business who earn a living through these major events.
Saturday’s game is just the beginning.
Marais said: “We are looking forward to a number of big tournaments coming to Cape Town, including the upcoming Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Hockey Masters World Cup, as well as the Netball World Cup in 2023.”
In December, the World Sevens Series also returns to Cape Town; yet another chance to fill up DHL Stadium and get our events and tourism sector back up and running.
Source: Government of South Africa