Mega-events and small enterprise development: The 2010 FIFA World Cup¹ opportunities and challenges

A mega-event can be a catalyst for long-term outcomes for its host locality or country. Such events are thus of growing importance in the global economy. However, scholarship on mega-events has paid little attention to their implications for small enterprise development. This article addresses the way scholarship dealing with sport mega-events has neglected the small tourism firms. It examines the planning for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. A key objective of the 2010 tourism planning is to spread the opportunities offered by this event widely, so as to include small tourism enterprises rather than just the large ones that control and dominate South Africa's tourism economy. The article presents evidence from a range of sources to highlight several challenges national government must deal with to achieve this goal.