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Touring South Africa - a jaw-dropping experience: as part of a well-organised campaign to promote South Africa ahead of the 2010 World Cup, and give the lie to negative press reports about the country, South Africa's premier marketing body, the IMC, invited African Business editor Anver Versi to join an international group of journalists on a fact-finding tour. Here is the first of his reports.

Article Excerpt
As South Africa prepares for the greatest-ever global sporting event to be staged on African soil, the media knives are out. It would seem that the one sure-fire path for second-rate journalists, particularly from Britain, to get their bylines in the papers is to rubbish South Africa and terrify potential World Cup spectators with grisly stories about rampant and violent crime.

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While this may sell a few more papers in recession and scandal-hit Britain, it does neither the genuine football fans nor Africa any good. We have been here before--Africa bashing has been in fashion for decades but the stakes are too high this time around to take things lying down.

Therefore hats off to the South African government for fighting malice with the truth. They decided to counter the raft of negative stories by the simple method of inviting journalists from around the world to visit the country and see the reality for themselves rather than believing the hair-raising yarns in the yellow press.

I thus found myself in the company of some 20-odd journalists hailing from the UK, the US, Brazil, India, China and Nigeria as we were given a rapid, week-long tour of the various World Cup venues and facilities. Our host was the International Marketing Council of South Africa...