With 58 days to go before the opening of the 2013 African Cup of Nations (Afcon), there is still no visible branding. Lack of hype over the continental showpiece, to be hosted in South Africa, has become a major concern, but the Local Organising Committee (LOC) remains optimistic the country will host a successful tournament. Marketing the Afcon has not been the strongest point from the LOC and this could explain why people have limited knowledge of the upcoming tournament, scheduled to kick-off in less than two months. The LOC has acknowledged that it has been a tough to put the 29th edition of the Afcon together, but they have assured that mechanisms are already in place ease the challenges. “Time and late funding are contributing factors to the failure to market the tournament efficiently,” says LOC CEO, Mvuzo Mbebe. Tourism companies have also come on board to lend their support. Mbebe says that the Department of Tourism and Brand SA have come to their rescue. The LOC has set itself a reachable target of selling 10% of the half a million tickets available for the tournament by December. They are not far off, with just over 40 000 tickets sold to date.
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