Charity starts at home, as the old adage goes. If South Africa Tourism (SAT) needs any reminding, we should deal with the needs of those close to us before thinking about helping others. This definition of charity is according to the Collins Dictionary, while the Cambridge English Dictionary contends that you should take care of your family and other people who live close to you before helping people who are further away or in another country.

So, why did SAT provisionally agree to a three-year shirt sponsorship deal with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (FC) starting at the beginning of the 2023/24 season and concluding at the end of the 2026/27 season?

According to the BBC, SAT will, in return, receive kit branding, interview backdrop branding, match-day advertising, partnership announcements and training camps in South Africa, as well as free access to tickets and stadium hospitality. So, what was the real attraction? Could it have been the latter part: free access to tickets and stadium hospitality?

Why was the North London club chosen? Apparently, it was the only one of the English Premier League’s top eight teams that was still available for such a sponsorship deal. Coincidently, Arsenal FC, another North London club, has Rwanda as its official tourism partner and its first shirt sleeve partner, with the tagline ‘Visit Rwanda’. Their partnership is also for three years.

According to the Arsenal website: “Rwanda is ranked as the second-easiest place to do business in Africa by the World Bank and has been awarded for its leadership in tourism and economic competitiveness by the World Travel and Tourism Council and the World Economic Forum respectively.”

Well, according to the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business 2020’, Rwanda places thirty-eighth internationally. As a matter of interest, as far as African countries are concerned, Mauritius places thirteenth, Morocco fifty-third, Kenya fifty-sixth, and in eighty-fourth position is South Africa out of 190 countries.

Interestingly, while the Rwanda deal is reported to be worth £3-million (R642.9-million) for the three years, the SAT deal is reported to be anything between £42.5- million (R910.78-million) and £60-million (R1.3-billion). Which begs the question: Why would SAT be willing to pay such a significant premium, especially when considering that Arsenal is leading the English Premium League table after 20 games, with Tottenham Hotspur in fifth place after 22 games? Ironically, and maybe a little-known fact, Arsenal, which is known as The Gunners, has a cannon in its crest, which points to a link to Kanonkop.

Returning to the why question – according to SAT: “We cannot carry on with business as usual, because it will not yield the desired results. This is why we are contemplating a partnership of this scale with Tottenham Hotspurs FC, to really help us shift the dial in our tourist arrivals.”

SAT’s added justification for its sponsorship is the government-mandated goal “to achieve 21-million international tourist arrivals by 2030”.

According to a South African government media statement titled ‘SA tourism on the high ahead of the festive season’, which was released on December 6, for the period January 1 to October 30, 2022, a total of 4.5-million foreign tourists visited the country. When extrapolated for the whole of 2022, the figure increases to 5.4-million. This, however, is 15.6-million short of the 2030 target of 21-million tourist arrivals.

Of the tourists who visited in 2022, 3.20-million were from Africa, 671 000 from Europe, and 256 000 from the Americas.

So, with 71.1% of foreign tourists coming from Africa, why spend £14.2-million (R303.6-million) to advertise to 671 000 (which is an overstated number when stripping out the UK, where Tottenham FC is based?

As James W Fick so elequently said: “Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what they are.”