South African Rugby Union (SARU) has approached the City of Cape Town to put in a bid to host the World Rugby Sevens Series during the 2019 – 2022 financial years.<\/p>\n
It comes after a successful hosting of the South African leg of the showcase tournament between 2016-18. The city said that the highly popular international event\u2019s contribution to its gross domestic product (GDP) increased from R539 million in 2015 to R765 million in 2017<\/strong>.<\/p>\n “Council\u2019s approval grants the city authority to submit a bid for the tournament for the next three financial years, 2019 – 2022,” said the city\u2019s mayoral committee member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, Alderman James Vos.<\/p>\n “Should we be successful, the City of Cape Town, the Cape Town Stadium RF (SOC Limited) and SARU will negotiate and formalise a Memorandum of Agreement that will stipulate the rights and responsibilities of each party,” he said.<\/p>\n He added that the city will provide support in the amount of R2.5 million per financial year for event-related services.<\/p>\n Tourism boost<\/strong><\/p>\n According to statistics provided by Vos, the\u00a0tournament has proven to be popular among both local and international tourists.<\/p>\n “The event was a resounding success earlier this month and it was indeed a privilege to showcase Cape Town as the world-class city it is,” he said.<\/p>\n “The local fans and visitor ‘gees’ was tangible and spending in the city over the Rugby 7s weekend was phenomenal.”<\/p>\n Vos said that the spectator profile over the years was made up on average of 34% of locals (Cape Town), 21% from the Western Cape, 22% from the rest of South Africa and 23% from international visitors.<\/p>\n The top five spectator markets were England, Scotland, Kenya, New Zealand and the USA.<\/p>\n “Given that most of the spectators were from outside of Cape Town, this influx of visitors translated into a significant economic boost for the local economy,” he said.<\/p>\n “Most of the international visitors extend their stay beyond the tournament dates which further boosts the local tourism economy.<\/p>\n “This in turn holds immense benefits for the City\u2019s residents by way of job creation, support for local businesses and entrepreneurs,” said Vos.<\/p>\n
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