Swaziland to make the best of 2010 World Cup

SWAZILAND wants to take advantage of the 2010 World Cup to market itself to the international world.

The Royal Kingdom has forged links with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) to showcase its hospitality and cultural experience to the outside world.

Minister of tourism in Swaziland Macford Sibandze said his country wanted to benefit from the World Cup spin-offs and urged all visitors to make a turn in Swaziland for an unforgettable experience.

Sibandze launched a “Visit Swaziland Campaign” this week and said his country was ready to welcome international visitors.

He said with some matches scheduled to be staged at the new Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, it would make sense for visitors to travel in and out of Swaziland to attend these matches because of the short distance.

Sibandze said they knew what it meant to host the World Cup as there were positives economic upswings.

He said already the recent Confederations Cup had positive spin-offs to his country as they hosted overnight visitors.

“We have tasted the spin-offs of the Confederations Cup and we want to make it huge during the World Cup. We believe our country is well positioned to welcome visitors as we are not far from South Africa,” said Sibandze.

He said they would organise public viewing areas to cater for those who would not be able to attend matches in South Africa.

- City Press