Kenya has put herself in a strategic position for marketing as stop over point for South African bound world cup teams. The announcement that the country will be hosting the 2010 African athletics championship has put the country in an ideal position to market itself.
The African athletics championship are held in early May, just before the conclusion of world leading soccer leagues. That means that when they are held in 2010, the national teams will be preparing to convene in camps before traveling to South Africa. The event is covered live by most television networks, hence publicity will be assured.
With only a little marketing, the country can be able to showcase its venues as ideal for practice ahead of the games in South Africa. Kenya enjoys almost identical climatic conditions with south Africa, though the later can be colder especially in winter. It has excellent infrastructure both in transport networks and communication.
Apart from the known soccer stadiums, institutions and clubs in Kenya have excellent pitches that can be used for soccer practice. The stadiums that are normally used for hockey, rugby and cricket if converted to temporary soccer pitches will make the teams wishing to train in Kenya have a wide variety to choose from.
Kenya is an athletics powerhouse. It is unlikely that any team in Africa would want to miss the meet in Kenya. It is also likely that sports analysts will be keen to see the new crop of athletes come to the scene and of course the replay of rivalry between Kenya and Ethiopia. This will present an ideal opportunity of showcasing the country as a stopover en route to South Africa.
Two of Africa's soccer powerhouses Nigeria and Cameroon have preferred to use Nairobi as a base before major tournaments. But the catch will be the other world beaters, from South America and Europe. Just before the last world cup, the practice camp of Brazil national team in Switzerland generated so much interest that every minute of their practice sessions was beamed worldwide.
With their tradition of winning cups outside Europe, Brazil will definitely begin as favorites to win the world cup in Africa. Wherever they go to pitch camp in Africa, they are likely to stir much more interest than they did in the last world cup. It will be in the interest of the host country to attract the best country in soccer for obvious reasons.
Kenya has already made a name over the years as a stable and developed country by African standards. Outside South Africa, the country has a head start as an optional practice site due to its weather. With the new strategic opening for publicity, the country should aim to attract only the top guns in the world of soccer.
James G. Kamweru is a tour operator and has been organizing and reporting on Vacation, Travel and Tours for years. For More Information Visit his site at Sports Tourism [http://www.nguyosafaris.com/parks.html] I Will Also Highly Appreciate Your Comments Kenya Travel On My Blog Here Sports Tourism [http://www.nguyosafaris.net/?cat=20]
No comments:
Post a Comment