Speaker: Andrew Boraine, CE Cape Town Partnership

Boraine began by thanking the speakers and stressing to participants that the Forum welcomed their feedback and suggestions for future meetings.

Suggestions for future Forums had already been tabled, and included:

• The Green Goal Initiative and Sustainability
• Beautification of the Central City
• The Green Point Urban Park
• The Fan Park at the Grand Parade
• Informal trading
• Social development
• Activities around the Final Draw (4 December at the CTICC)
• Marketing
• Retail
• Confederations Cup (14-16 June 2009)
• The Central City pedestrian experience.

Reminding the audience that ‘everything we do is part of the build-up to 2010’, he provided a list of some of the forthcoming events, including:

• The stadium roof raising, which would be visible to the public from around mid-February onwards. The process would involve 36 000m2 of hanging glass incorporating 3 500 tons of steel and 1 000 tons of glass, being winched up over a three week period;
• The Spier Infecting the City Festival: 21-28 February in the Central City
• Retail Therapy – a massive Central City sale – 23-28 February;
• Creative Clusters @ the Design Indaba: 27 Feb – 1 March (CTICC);
• The first of many proposed ‘Fan Walk’ walking tours, to be organized by Cape Town Partnership and to take place from the Cape Town Station to the Stadium on 18 March.
• Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour: 8 March
• Absa Cape Epic: 21-28 March
• Community Jazz Concert on Greenmarket Square: 1 April
• International Jazz Festival: 3-4 April (CTICC)

In conclusion, Boraine reinforced that: “the purpose of the Forum was to follow up. This is not a once off. The presentations that you will see today – where they have been cleared and authorized, will be up on our website to download. We will be producing a general report on this meeting as well as a press release which will be available on the website.” However, he urged participants who had not yet registered as members to do so without delay: “We had 373 replies for this meeting, but only 51 people of those have so far registered. We were in a situation today, because of the overwhelming turnout, that we had to turn away some people who have registered as members of the Forum. From now on we will give preference to registered members. And only then will we open it up to limited numbers of other guests. The other advantage of registering as a member is that we will be writing more detailed transcriptions of some of the topics discussed here and only registered members will be able to get access to those reports, which will include contact names and addresses.”

Cape Media Services Speaker: Dr Laurine Platzky, Deputy-Director-General, Governance and Integration and 2010 Western Cape Coordinator for the Provincial Government of the Western Cape. Dr Platzky introduced the concept behind Cape Media Services – an initiative established jointly by Province and the City of Cape Town and in partnership with other organizations such as the Cape Film Commission, the Cape Town Partnership and the CTICC

The project been stimulated by a similar service offered in Bavaria during the FIFA World Cup in Germany in 2006 and witnessed in operation by Dr Platzky and her team.

Dr Platzky explained: “Our Province is teamed with Bavaria and we found that there is an innovative tourist association in Bavaria that started something called Bavarian Media Services. Initially they went to FIFA and asked: ‘Can we be accredited?’ but they heard nothing. So they decided to start something on their own because they realized there would be a large number of foreign journalists coming from all over the world, many of whom had never been to Germany before. The idea was to feed them information both prior to their arrival in Germany as well as during the event –doing what you would actually call ‘destination marketing’.”

Looking towardds 2010, Dr Platzky’s team realized that irrespective of where the media were based, and even thought the official International Broadcasting Centre would be in Johannesburg, most journalists were probably going to end up in Cape Town in one way or another.

Said Dr Platzky: “This an African World Cup, and what we want to do is show the rest of the world that Africa is not a basket case. We have some excellent skills and infrastructure and we’re actually quite innovative. So that’s what we want to get across – it’s not just about Cape Town or the Western Cape: but it’s about changing perception about Africa.”

Along with providing information to media during the 2010 event, Cape Media Services were also looking to establish a database prior to the event of available space, skills and equipment from within the local industry. “We want to grow this part of the economy – there’s the film industry, the print media, a whole bunch of aspects that have been historically based in Cape Town, some of which are doing quite well and some of which could do much better from a platform such as this.

“We don’t want the 3000 media or more to arrive lock, stock and barrel, all their equipment and people. We want them to use what we have here and so build our own capacity and economy.”

A major focus for Cape Media Services would be the Final Draw to be held in Cape Town on 4 December and to take place at the CTICC. Noted Platzky: “This is the only time when we won’t be competing with any of the other South African host cities. We will have everyone here in one place: from the famous footballers, their coaches and team managers to the entire FIFA hierarchy, and all the media. Plus it will be summer and a great opportunity to showcase our city and Province.”

For the immediate future, however, Cape Media Services would be concentrating on compiling the local database as well as assessing the needs of international broadcasters. Said Dr Platzky: “A number of broadcasters have been approaching individual companies and buildings for space to set up their facilities. So we are currently conducting an audit of space not only in the City but in other parts of the Province as well.”

During the 2010 event, Cape Media Services hoped to set up it’s own media centre where it will be able to assist with everything from the granting of permits to the setting up of interviews and information on stories outside of the sporting arena. For example, explained Dr Platzky: “We will have crews that want to shoot in a township. We need, for instance, a safe and secure taxi service to transport that crew – we’re even working with SAPS on this one as they’ve got some very good experience with these types of things and it’s a very innovative win-win for everyone – for the taxis, for the broadcasters and for the media in general.”

Cape Media Services would also be looking to source people with multiple language skills, said Dr Platzky: “There are four official FIFA languages at the moment (Spanish, French, German, English) but FIFAare including Arabic and Portuguese in the next round of the World Cup – however, we’ll be on the lookout for any other languages as well.” In conclusion, Dr Platzky stressed that Cape Media Services would be looking for further partners in addition to its current team, particularly from within the private sector: “With the limited budget we have, we need all the partnerships we can get. It’s very important that we give the media in general a positive and safe experience. We obviously can’t do better than good media exposure and there’s nothing worse than bad exposure. So this is a great opportunity for us to sell ourselves in so many ways. Not just for tourism, but for trade, investment, recruitment of skills and for keeping our skills here in the Western Cape.”

Speaker: Lesley de Reuck, 2010 Director of Operations, City of Cape Town Having followed a broad and open consultory process, the FIFA By Law had been published in the Government Gazette at the beginning of February, reported de Reuck.

Having followed a broad and open consultory process, the FIFA By Law had been published in the Government Gazette at the beginning of February, reported de Reuck. He added that the City of Cape Town had spent many months in close negotiation with FIFA to ensure that the By Law – an agreement signed by all host cities – would impact as little as possible on local businesses. The By Law would be in effect for a two-week period both before and after the Final Draw (taking place in Cape Town on 4 December) and during the competition for a period of two weeks immediately prior to the first match and following the final match.

Taking the audience through the basic conditions of the By Law (a copy of which can be downloaded from the opening page of 2010 Central City Partners Forum), de Reuck drew attention to a number of points.

The first of these dealt with “Exclusion Zones”. Explained de Reuck: “Everyone constantly asks about what this is and it’s an area in which you would not be able to advertise or conduct business other than what would have been approved for that event on the day. The Exclusion Zone around the Green Point Stadium goes up to the curb of Somerset Road and ends before the businesses. It was part of a huge fight with FIFA to say if we were to extend that further it would have meant that all those businesses down the line we would have had to somehow close up their business names and so forth. But as it stands at the moment FIFA does not have a problem with the businesses along this stretch. As long as someone doesn’t go now and lease his stoep to Nike for €400 000 for the event!”

The City of Cape Town together with local law enforcement were already working to put teams in place to deal with the Rights Protection Programme and in particular how to police and enforce it during the 2010 event. De Reuck emphasized that ambush marketing, in particular, would be strictly controlled: “It’s a protected event for which sponsors pay huge amounts of money and you actually can’t do ambush marketing anywhere in the country, but we will be policing in the close vicinity and the exclusion zone. We’ll be patrolling outside stadiums enforcing ‘Controlled Area’ restrictions, and we’ll identify and confiscate counterfeit merchandise. The public viewing areas – for example, the Fan Park on the Grand Parade – are also areas that we will have to police.”

Emphasizing the seriousness with which FIFA dealt with the Rights Protection Programme, de Reuck said: “FIFA has registered almost every way that you can think of using ‘World Soccer Cup’ or ‘2010’ or a soccer ball. The first South African company they took to court was a lollipop manufacturer because the paper over the lollipop looked like a soccer ball and had ‘2010’ printed on it. The manufacturers were taken to court and lost their case.”

In order to enforce the By Law there would, for example, be special courts set up in all host cities and running 24 hours to deal with infractions during the event.

The By Law also extended to Controlled Access Sites, which would include:

• Green Point Stadium;
• Anywhere where there is an officially declared FIFA event;
• Official training sites;
• Team hotels
• The official hotels for the FIFA delegation
• FIFA fan parks; and
• Any other area designated as a Controlled Access Site. De Reuck elaborated: “For example, we’ve got public viewing areas which will probably be declared a controlled access site.”

De Reuck also requested that Capetonians begin to refer to the stretch between the Fan Park at the Grand Parade and the Green Point Stadium as the “Fan Walk”. It has previously been referred to as the “Fan Mile” Explained De Reuck: “We are now calling it the Fan Walk, because if you call it the Fan Mile, there’s a FIFA connotation to it and then FIFA clamps down on what you can or can’t do in this area.”

The City of Cape Town had also engaged in long discussions with the FIFA legal team about City Beautification, reported de Reuck, particularly around construction during the event: “In the first draft of the By Law, FIFA wanted us to stop all building in the city during that period. Obviously that’s not going to happen. They also asked us to enforce that major construction sites are beautified. Now we’ve softened that in saying that the City will go to businesses and ask and advise them to do it.”

Turning his attention to Street Trading, de Reuck noted: “There’s a whole section in the By Law on General Conduct, what you can and cannot do. We’ll be going out shortly with a public participation process during which we’ll be talking to informal traders about how this will work – how you can or can’t trade during the event. We’ll also be doing an audit on what’s being traded at the moment. We know a lot of people have stalls selling caps with names such as ‘Nike’, for example. In certain areas, we’re going to have to ask these people to not trade in a competitor’s cap or clothing. And of course, no one under the age of 16 will be allowed to trade.”

In conclusion, de Reuck noted: “The process we followed in regard to the By Law included an entire public private participation. We received a huge number of comments from many companies and businesses – including Cape Town Partnership CTP and the V&A Waterfront – and I would say 98% of those comments could be accommodated in some way or another.”

Download a copy of the 2010 Bylaw

Speaker: Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, CEO Cape Town Tourism With Cape Town ranking as one of the top ten cities internationally, du Toit-Helmbold introduced her presentation by noting that next year would be about much more than 2010.

With Cape Town ranking as one of the top ten cities internationally, du Toit-Helmbold introduced her presentation by noting that the 2010 FIFA World Cup is about much more than the event itself: ‘Our vision stretches beyond 2010 towards 2020 to make sure that Cape Town is positioned very strongly as one of the world’s most iconic cities reflected in the economic wellbeing of every citizen. It needs to be not only a great place to visit but it must be a fantastic place to live.’

As a result, Cape Town Tourism developed a 2010 visitor strategy in 2005 and a series of tourism project plans, currently awaiting official approval by the City of Cape Town. Cape Town Tourism is responsible for the coordination of work streams like Destination Marketing, Visitor Services, Industry Communication and Training, Accommodation Readiness with a link to Tourism Transport as well as Responsible Tourism.

‘Ultimately this event is about tourism and the visitors it brings to Cape Town. We are going to be inundated with many people who would otherwise not have visited our destination. We have an opportunity to show the world that we are professional, run great businesses, and have a great destination to invest in for the future. Unlike Germany, we don’t have to prove that we’re a friendly bunch of people, but we do have to prove that we can pull this off and do so brilliantly.

‘I always say that a lack of confidence, in who we are as a people and as a city, is one of our biggest stumbling blocks for economic growth. It’s high time that we, as citizens, back up Brand Cape Town in a much greater way.’

Noting that Cape Town was already a sought-after destination that hosted a number of large international events annually, du Toit-Helmbold stressed that the challenge for 2010 would lie in dealing with ‘a different type of visitor’ – the soccer tourist – quite different from the normal leisure tourist or business traveler. ‘So we need to make sure that we can accommodate all these people and meet their unique expectations.’

Cape Town Tourism was therefore focusing all its efforts leading up to 2010 around two key opportunities, the first of which would be Destination Marketing. Explained du Toit-Helmbold: ‘Cape Town will be televised to a huge global audience and we need to make sure that we provide people with the right pictures and stories of Cape Town.’

The second opportunity dealt with Legacy. Said du Toit-Helmbold: ‘It’s very important to lay the foundations for sustained growth beyond the World Cup in terms of economic development and job creation; improved and new infrastructure; civic pride; service excellence; a sustainable and green Cape Town; safety and security; and finally creating a 365-day destination.’

One of the key factors in maximizing these opportunities will be accommodation. Said du Toit-Helmbold: ‘A lot of people are speculating that we don’t have enough space. But actually very few host cities have our capacity. What we need to make sure of is a diversity of offering and value for money experiences. So we’re looking at temporary stock and accreditation for people who might want to put their place up for rent. But right now in terms of Cape Town and a two-hour radius around Cape Town we estimate that we will have about 70 000 beds available for the World Cup.’

Noting that most tourist visits to Cape Town (or in fact any destination) follow ‘the customer journey’, beginning with the initial dream of planning a holiday and culminating in the final visit, which leads to recommendations to friends and relatives. ‘The Customer Journey is very important to us,’ said du Toit-Helmbold. ‘For the World Cup our focus will be on the ‘visit’ part of the journey and most of our time and resources will be spent on ‘in-destination activation’ to ensure that visitors’ expectations are exceeded and that they return as leisure, business and events visitors. So we will not be spending huge amounts of money on external marketing during the World Cup.

The upgrading of Visitors Services and the provision of quality information would also be key to 2010, as would Responsible Tourism, which would see – among other elements – the putting together of a responsible visitor tourism code. Says du Toit-Helmbold: ‘There are cultural issues that impact on this: issues of sex tourism, adult entertainment – all of these things go hand in hand with major events. As a destination we also need to make sure that we look at the underbelly of tourism and deal with that upfront and in a very mature way.’

Bolstering all programmes planned by Cape Town Tourism would be Communication and a strategy for E-marketing.

Closing on a sober note, du Toit-Helmbold said: ‘There is another side to major events that we’ve seen in cities like Athens and Sydney – often people have the perception that with a major event comes price increases, over-crowding and the major issue of displacement. Many people that would have come on holiday here might decide to holiday elsewhere because they don’t want to deal with the congestion. So we’ve got to balance all the amazing things that go around with the World Cup with the negative aspects, plan effectively and deal with them upfront.

‘Statistics on Sydney’s tourism arrivals following the Olympic Games showed a significant dip, and it took a long time for that growth pattern to heal. It’s important to learn from other destination and host cities and really look now at what we do after the World Cup so that we can deliver a successful event and use it for sustained growth.”

Speaker: Andrew Bulman of Arcus Gibb, the international engineering consultants contracted to the 2010 event. Bulman spoke as a representative of the City of Cape Town and a large consortium of seven companies who make up the transport planning team for 2010. Continued…

Cape Town Station: 2010 and Beyond Speaker: Mokena Makeka of Makeka Design Laboratory, the architects involved in the Cape Town Station transformation. Makeka spoke on behalf of his company’s clients Intersite and the PRASA.

Makeka began by noting that in cities that are vibrant, working well, and are responsive to their citizens and commuters, stations can play a critical role not only in terms of the economy but in terms of defining public space. But for many years, the Cape Town Station has been unable to fulfill its opportunity and responsibility within the CBD.

The team’s vision is therefore to: “Revitalise the station as the city’s core transport and activity hub to position Cape Town as an inspirational world city.” In other words, our station is a vital component in making Cape Town what could be called an inspirational city on a global level. Because the station is located as it is – in close proximity to Adderley Street, the Company Gardens and other transport nodes – it therefore plays a significant part in terms of anchoring our understanding of how we move throughout the CBD.

To unlock the potential of the Cape Town Station, its ‘Development Value’ needs to be unlocked. It’s not only about the ability to get on a train, but about how the city interacts with the station as a place of festivity and joy, a retail environment, the provisions of services (such as doctors’ rooms), and caters for both the formal and informal sectors. And how does it extend the ‘life’ of a city in terms of offering transport at all hours, to enable a city to begin to enjoy a nighttime economy?

Going forward and particularly in relation to 2010, the station can be seen as a ‘welcome mat’ to the city and the objective is to create, along with its safe, secure and efficient transport options (from rail, to buses and taxis), a place of public art, interaction, entertainment and information as well as a centre offering viable and exciting retail options to both locals and visitors offerings.

According to Mokena: “Up to now, it’s been a bit of a gemors of different activities, but we now aim to create a range of very specific precincts with very specific feels which in turn will attract people. It becomes a place of meaning and equity, where the public realm is enhanced, preserved and maximized for all the city’s citizens and commuters. It could be a place where we have public sculpture, a place where café culture can begin to interact because we have wonderful spaces that can begin to bring that type of energy back into the station.”

Although long-term the team are currently even looking at sinking all railway lines underground, unlocking at least 25 city blocks, for the short-term leading up to 2010, Capetonians can expect to see:

1^ST Quarter 2009: Completion of the Strand Street retail component and Foodcourt.

2^nd Quarter 2009: Completion of the Adderley Street retail component and a restaurant

3^rd Quarter 2009: Completion of the Forecourt in terms of event management space

4^TH Quarter 2009: Completion of the Old Marine Drive retail component and the Parcels Building.