Hosting the 2010 soccer World Cup has not helped South Africa tourism

Poor South Africa - and I mean that literally.

After borrowing billions of dollars to build soccer stadiums for the World Cup it could ill afford to host in 2010 with the hopes of attracting more dollars to its main industry, tourism, comes word that tourist arrivals in 2011 have dropped to pre-2007 levels. And, thanks to the continuing global economic woes, South Africa is now admitting that its tourism numbers may not increase again until 2014.

Yikes!

That's especially troubling news considering tourism is the biggest contributor to developing South Africa's GDP and those billions should have been spent on new  infrastructure likes roads, schools and hospitals instead of making the soccer gods at FIFA even wealthier.

One South African city that thought its investment in the World Cup would pay off handsomely was beautiful Cape Town, but this week its head tourism official  admitted the international soccer event did little to attract new tourists. So it's going back to the drawing board in an attempt to drum up interest in one of the most delightful places on Earth.

Cape Town's tourism CEO Marlette de Toit-Helmbold is calling for a new approach, one that relies on the notion that a "city sells itself." Toit-Helmbold also said that Cape Town can not just rely on its "natural beauty" to sell itself abroad.

According to Toit-Helmbold, "successful cities of the future will be stand-out urban centres seen as the most livable and enjoyable places on the planet, delivering benefits to residents and visitors alike. For many people, to escape does not always mean a wilderness experience, but rather to explore new and different cultures. Cities are now the epicenters of modern, living culture. They are the hot spots for urban travelers who make up 70 per cent of the world's travelers."

Ironically, earlier this week I got news from a contact in Cape Town that more Canadians arrived in South Africa in January of this year - almost 4,500 - than ever before. Sadly, though, Canadians and Chinese appear to be the only people in the world travelling at the moment.

And, Vancouver, which co-hosted one of the best-ever Winter Olympics in 2010 with Whistler, is reporting that that international sporting investment has paid off with record numbers of people choosing to vacation in Canada's most beautiful city.

So why has South Africa not benefited from the World Cup?

Well, mainly because there's very little air lift into the country from gateways around the world and security issues continue to plague Africa's most attractive country.

Things won't improve for South Africa until the cash-strapped Brits and Americans start travelling again and that may not happen for many years to come.