# After the World Cup - more likely to travel to SA? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 12, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384 "2010-07-12T13:13:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/1 "2010-07-12T13:13:48Z")
There’s been a bit written locally about how successfully hosting the World Cup might change South Africa’s image overseas. Has it, for anyone on the Dope? Has seeing the World Cup or any coverage made you more likely to choose SA as a travel destination? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/2 "2010-07-12T13:32:31Z")
It’s changed my image of South Africa, but not really the likelihood I’d go there. I visited Botswana once as a boy, and most of the Things To Do I associate with South Africa beyond the wildlife (sandy beaches, nodding palms, etc.) I can find in equal quantities much closer to home. If cost wasn’t an issue - let’s say South Africa magically reappeared about where Cuba is tomorrow - then yes, certainly. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/3 "2010-07-12T13:35:16Z")
Nope. I never want to hear the ESPN Lion King theme music every again! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/4 "2010-07-12T15:04:18Z")
No, but that’s because I’ve been there before and would be happy to return World Cup or not. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/5 "2010-07-12T15:14:13Z")
After the whole vuvuzela thing I pretty much never want to go there. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/6 "2010-07-12T16:26:55Z")
I don’t travel much. There are many places I’d travel to before hitting S.A., so, no, I’m not more likely. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/7 "2010-07-12T16:47:18Z")
Since I paid minimal attention to the World Cup, nope! Also, I already wanted to go there. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/8 "2010-07-12T16:50:23Z")
No. International travel, if I ever get the chance to do it, is likely to be a once in a lifetime thing for me. There’s too much I want to see in Europe to spend my once in a life time trip in South Africa. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/9 "2010-07-12T17:26:44Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > After the whole vuvuzela thing I pretty much never want to go there. Seriously? Why? Do you think we wander the streets blowing them at all hours of the night? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/10 "2010-07-12T17:31:09Z")
Gosh, I hope so. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/11 "2010-07-12T17:35:09Z")
New footage has cleared up the [Zidane headbutt incident](http://www.cortexcerebri.net/2010/06/zinedine-zidane-vs-marco-materazzi-headbutt-vuvuzela-is-the-answer/) in the 2006 World Cup. Sound muted for benefit of non-South Africans. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/12 "2010-07-12T17:35:39Z")
> [@grimpixie](#): > > Seriously? Why? Do you think we wander the streets blowing them at all hours of the night? Not taking any chances. ---
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/13 "2010-07-12T21:32:47Z")
I watched almost all of the games but not any of the associated programmes that may or may not have been shown about South Africa. I never had any plans to visit there before and I don’t have any now. When I travel abroad I tend to go to places in Europe which interests me much more. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/14 "2010-07-13T08:09:28Z")
Not really; before, I would have visited if I was going under specific conditions. Now, I would visit under the same kind of conditions. For example, years ago I was involved in a corporate project which included a SA factory: I would have loved to go there, because it would have been visiting a specific area with people I already knew and liked. I don’t like be-bussed-around trips and SA doesn’t sound like a place I’d want to drop by without a guide either. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/15 "2010-07-13T09:03:42Z")
With the law and order issues unchecked going there was never on my horizon. And it is only a few hours flight for me. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/16 "2010-07-13T09:10:44Z")
With their vuvuzelas they spoiled the world cup for millions of fans . This shows their attittude and / or the ineptitude of their government. I will not do business with them. However I would travel on a guided tour and visit all the wildlife resrves . Ialways wanted to eat exotic meat (legally allowed ). ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/17 "2010-07-13T09:40:17Z")
There is still far too much crime there for my taste, I understand that the authorities had a clamp down on perps for the duration of the W.C.; but without the worlds spotlight on events I expect the situation to return to normal. That said I would not be stunned with amazement if I end up there for a while in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/18 "2010-07-14T02:01:00Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > There’s been a bit written locally about how successfully hosting the World Cup might change South Africa’s image overseas. Has it, for anyone on the Dope? Has seeing the World Cup or any coverage made you more likely to choose SA as a travel destination? Nah, if I were suddenly to become rich, \*\*certainly \*\*South Africa would be on the wish list, but it wouldn’t be related to the football thing. The only World Cup effect was that I did wonder to what extent local people would actually benefit, as I’m sure I read articles about people being “rehoused” and local traders told not to sell their soft drinks or snacks near stadia as everything was to be done by particular chosen companies. Hmmm. I think the “image overseas” is broadly “very beautiful country with problems of social inequality and rather scary crime figures. And a pretty flag and a nice national anthem and lions and elephants and stuff”. Now, when I rob a bank and decide to visit, I’ll read up on it and learn more, but that’s my vague image and I imagine one shared by a lot of people. It beats me why the World Cup would make people more or less likely to visit, BUT, as I realise even as I type, I am thinking “oh, yes and if I were to go to South Africa, perhaps I could also go to Botswana because of the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency…” and I am forced to admit that all sorts of weird thing affect people’s choices. :smack: 😃 RATS! Now I want to win the damn lottery and go to South Africa. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/19 "2010-07-14T10:51:30Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > The only World Cup effect was that I did wonder to what extent local people would actually benefit, as I’m sure I read articles about people being “rehoused” and local traders told not to sell their soft drinks or snacks near stadia as everything was to be done by particular chosen companies. Hmmm. The former was alleged to have happened to homeless/vagrant types in Cape Town, and at the city’s behest, but the latter is the result of the draconian controls that FIFA enforces when it agrees to use your city as a host venue. ---
**Author:** ![Oliveritaly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oliveritaly/32/15233_2.png) [@Oliveritaly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oliveritaly)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384/20 "2010-07-14T11:16:01Z")
The LOVE of my life, well long ago anyway, lives there and I’d to this day have a VERY hard time not dropping everything going on in my life and NOT getting on the next available flight if she asked. World Cup or not … I’ve priced flights there many times with a dopey grin on my face the each time … [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-world-cup-more-likely-to-travel-to-sa/546384.md?page=2)