SA Tourism Board Conditionally Approves Tottenham Hotspur Deal

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Mzilikazi Themba Khumalo - South African Touism acting CEO talks about Questions have been asked about the decision to channel almost R1 billion into a single project involving the football giant.

South African Touism (SAT) says there has been a malicious leak of internal documents regarding the Tottenham Hotspur deal. 

The Daily Maverick reported on an almost R1 billion sponsorship of the football giant being considered by the tourism entity. 

Questions have been asked about the decision to channel the money into a single project

SAT said the sponsorship would yield R88 billion in international spend into the local economy. 

SAT acting CEO Mzilikazi Themba Khumalo briefed the media on the sponsorship deal on Thursday. 

He said there was no signed contract yet, but that the SAT board had conditionally approved the deal. 

“The money that is invested in tourism is not the same money for energy or potholes, there are other departments for that.  

“Our legislative mandate is about persuading international travelers to spend their money in the country,” Khumalo explained."

Khumalo said before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism was contributing 6.4% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). This has since dropped to 3.2%. 

He said SAT was not asking for “new money” to go into the deal, but rather that SAT would be aggregating the money that would go into their smaller projects to the deal
2 Feb 2023 1PM English South Africa Business News · Investing

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