A dejected minister of tourism, Walter Muzembi, blamed the host country of doing nothing to market neighbouring countries to host participating teams for practise prior to the showcase.
Muzembi said South Africa had not issued a “statement of confidence” on its neighbours' ability to host participating teams for practise and acclimatisation, resulting in teams camping as far as Europe whose weather bore no resemblance to that of South Africa.
Businesses have spent large sums of money preparing for an influx of visitors. Zimbabwe was particularly interested in hosting teams like the Brazilian national team prior to the tournament, but has failed to attract a single participating team.
Shingi Munyeza, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, has now moved to calm those counting their losses by saying regional countries “will benefit in terms of the awareness that the tournament has brought for the region.”
Victor Gapare, the chairman of the Business Council of Zimbabwe, has already warned against high expectations of massive benefits from 2010, saying industry captains and politicians had grossly exaggerated the benefits.
