‘We received some outstanding bids, but the panel came to the unanimous conclusion that the tender provided by the Eastern Province Kings and Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality was a clear winner.’ These were the words of South African Rugby Union CEO Jurie Roux when the Eastern Cape won the right to host the IRB Sevens Series for four years from December 2011.

The IRB Sevens event, sponsored by Emirates airline, is part of an international roster of events from Edinburgh to Hong Kong that sees the top teams in the world compete against one another, with individual tournament winners being declared at each venue. The South African leg of the event had previously been hosted by George.

The Eastern Cape bid was seen to be the best in terms of brand-building potential, commercial promise, budget viability and event-hosting capacity. An outlay of R10.5-million by the city will be more than matched by expected income from the event of R80-million.

The province proved its abilities in 2010, with a seamless hosting of Soccer World Cup games played at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. The stadium drew praise from every quarter during the World Cup, and has found a regular user in the provincial rugby team, EP Kings. Unfortunately, the city still does not have a Premier Soccer League club, despite the best efforts of Volkswagen South Africa, which bought the franchise of an existing KwaZulu-Natal club and relocated it to the city as Bay United.

The splendidly modern stadium provided an ideal backdrop when global superstar Neil Diamond came to visit the city in 2011. The singer attracted an audience of 22 000. The Springboks also beat the All Blacks at the venue prior to leaving for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The Mandela Bay Development Agency has plans to develop the stadium precinct to include an eight-storey office block that will include space for the Southern Kings, Eastern Province rugby, South African Football Association and other sports and marketing bodies. A high-performance centre is among the other ideas being put forward for the stadium. The location of the stadium on the edge of North End Lake lends itself to restaurants and a hotel.

The economic impact of the SA Ironman competition, held every year in Port Elizabeth in April, is said to be more than R40-million. The Africa Open is proving a successful tournament for the Eastern Cape. East London Golf Club has seen high-profile winners every year since the event was first held at the club in 2009: Retief Goosen and Charl Schwartzel were followed in 2011 by reigning British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen.

As one of four South African golf events co-sanctioned by the European Tour, the Africa Open is almost guaranteed a high-quality field and is an important event for all aspiring local golfers. According to europeantour.com, the 2011 event created more than 300 jobs and in 2010 the global gross international media value of the event was calculated at about R80-million. The Billabong MSF Pro Surfing competition is held every July at Jeffreys Bay, which is internationally renowned for its perfectly breaking waves. International points are awarded in this prestigious event.

Both of the province’s big cities are popular venues for national sporting events. East London is particularly strong in swimming, with the recent R1-million upgrade of the Joan Harrison Complex boosting the city’s hosting capacity. Events such as the SA Schools’ Water Polo Championship and the SA Masters regularly provide a boost for the local economy, with the 2009 SA Universities Water Polo Championship estimated to have brought in R10-million.

Port Elizabeth recently put a roof over the Newton Park Swimming Pool, which will extend its capacity to offer national events in all weather, but the Friendly City offers water sports of all sorts. The Ocean Racing Series presents competitions for swimmers and paddlers while the Redhouse River Mile is a popular event for open-water swimmers. Hobie Beach is a well-known venue for yacht racing and Ironman competitions. The Herald Cycle Tour is an established event and the city has two horse-racing venues: Arlington and Fairview.

The National Arts Festival is South Africa’s premier arts festival. Drawing up to 50 000 visitors every year to the educational centre of Grahamstown, the National Arts Festival is an institution, attracting aspiring and established local and international artists to the main and fringe events.

A study by the Department of Economics and Economic History at Rhodes University has shown that about R33-million is brought into the area during the time of the festival.