WITH only three months remaining before the 2010 FIFA Word Cup kicks off on June 11, the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) has launched a campaign to attract football fans and sports tourists alike to visit the country’s many attractions during the competition.

Twenty-eight leading tourism and travel executives from South African tourist companies have recently been invited to get a closer look at the attractions on offer, according to TTB managing director Peter Mwenguo..

A delegation previously visited the country early last month to sample the tourist circuit, which included the Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti, Lake Manyara wildlife parks and Mount Kilimanjaro -- all considered to be some of the most popular destinations in East Africa.

Just before the tournament commences, a joint tourism drive is being planned between Tanzania and South Africa with a view to giving both nations one final marketing push aimed at drawing in as many visitors as possible before, during and after the tournament.

It is only three hours flight from Johannesburg in South Africa to Dar es Salaam or four hours flight from other South African cities to key tourist sites in Tanzania.

Apart from the abundant tourist attractions, Tanzania also banks on the ultra-modern, 60,000-seater Olympic standard National Stadium to attract some of the 32 participating teams to train in the country.

One of them, Cote d'Ivoire, set up a three-week training camp in Dar es Salaam ahead of the African Nations Cup finals in Angola early this year.

Tourism operators neighbouring South Africa anticipate gross benefits from the highly revered world sporting event, which will be held on African soil for the first time.  

Others are already enjoying a surge in business because of the much expected tourist influx into the region.

Kenyan and South African governments have already entered into a partnership that will see the two countries collaborate in the promotion of the tourism sector during the World Cup.

Kenyan Tourism Minister Najib Balala signed a bilateral agreement with his South African counterpart, Marthinus Van Schalkwyk, that will enable the two countries cooperate in strategic areas like sharing data and increasing investments in the sector.