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The South African government’s tourism board has given conditional approval to a plan to sponsor English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur amid the energy crisis, South African Tourism (SAT) announced. statement on Thursday.
The controversial sponsorship deal, which is yet to be finalised, is said to be worth around $58 million (R1 billion).
“We cannot do business as usual, as this will not yield the desired results. This is why we are considering a partnership of this scale with Tottenham Hotspurs FC, which will really help us move the dial in our tourist arrivals,” SAT Acting Chief Executive Themba Khumalo said in the statement. .
“It is unfortunate that information about the partnership was leaked prematurely. We received conditional board approval for the partnership on Tuesday, January 31.
“Now all that is left in the process is to consult with our tourism sector stakeholders and the National Treasury before finalizing anything,” Khumalo said.
SAT has defended the sponsorship, pointing to a government-mandated target of “achieving 21 million international tourist arrivals by 2030”.
Addressing the media a Press conference On Thursday Khumalo told reporters: “It is not about football.”
“We are reaching the audience in the British Premier League. We are reaching it so that we can persuade them to travel to South Africa, spend pounds, euros, dollars, yen at our destination and bring back respect for our people Can do
Tottenham has declined to comment on the sponsorship deal.
South Africa’s ongoing power blackouts are known locally power cutAs a result President Cyril Ramaphosa considered declaring a national disaster, as in 2020 at the peak of the COVID pandemic, which had a devastating effect on the country’s economy.
The increase in power outages is also of great concern for South Africa’s food security, putting further pressure on rising prices and stretched household budgets.