MOBILE HANDSET ENHANCES PERSONAL SAFETY FOR 2010 SOCCER TOURISTS
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With the 2010 FIFA World Cup around the corner, soccer tourists from around the world are no doubt casting a keen eye on everything South Africa has to offer over and above its football stadiums.
While buying match tickets, booking suitable hotel accommodation and scoping reliable transport, personal safety and security will also be foremost.
Despite the recent furore over the marketing of ‘stab-proof’ vests to UK soccer fans planning to visit South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, international football enthusiasts are snapping
up match tickets at a brisk rate, suggesting that
no manner of negative hype regarding
South Africa’s ability to protect
its guests will stop them from
flying in for the event.
|
“One of the prerequisites of the FIFA World Cup bidding process is that a host-nation has the ability to protect both local fans and tourists from criminal elements in and around the stadiums,” says Mark Rousseau, managing director of DigiCore Holdings, known internationally for its C-track vehicle security and tracking systems.
“As South Africa's chief World Cup organiser Danny Jordaan has stated, R1,3-billion is being spent to ‘beef up security, which includes deploying 45 000 police officers for the event and the use of new equipment including helicopters, water cannons, body armour and 100 patrol vehicles’,” Rousseau says.
South Africa’s hospitality industry (including hotels, game parks and lodges, B&Bs, restaurants, pubs, tour operations and shuttle services), is gearing up for unprecedented demand as close on half a million visitors from around the world seek to discover the many local tourist attractions on offer, including wildlife safaris, eco-tourism, adventure sports and cultural excursions.
“These activities will take soccer tourists away from the highly-secured areas where the matches take place,” adds Rousseau. “Without trying to over-sensationalise the issue, soccer tourists need to be informed on how best to protect themselves. Muggings are a world-wide phenomenon and travellers make easy targets. While vigilance and common sense play a predominant role in preventing personal attacks in any environment, technology can greatly assist those who feel the need to enhance their protection against criminals.”
Having dominated the fields of stolen-vehicle-recovery and vehicle telematics for more than 25 years in South Africa and abroad, C-track now offers its GPS/GSM ‘track-and-trace’ services in a unique ‘personal-protection’ mobile handset called C-track ICE, marketed locally in conjunction with Cell C and Nashua Mobile.
“Having proved itself in the marketplace over the last four months, South Africans are now familiar with C-track ICE and its adoption rate has been exceptional, especially among scholars and the elderly,” Rousseau explains. “For those coming from abroad to witness the 2010 FIFA World Cup, it offers not only personal tracking functionality, but a host of other valuable services like direction assistance, emergency medical rescue and ‘alert/warning messages’ when a person enters an unsafe area. What’s more, we’ve tailor-made a short-term contract package especially for visiting soccer tourists who will pay a low rental fee with all calls based on local SIM rates.”
Effectively a combined cellphone and tracking device, C-track ICE is compact, lightweight (only 62.5 grams!) and robust, allowing calls to be made to four dedicated numbers (one C-track emergency-assist number and three pre-programmable personal contact numbers) and the receiving of unlimited calls and SMSs, C-track ICE also features a prominent ‘SOS/panic button’ linked directly to C-track’s emergency response centre.
“When the SOS button is activated, a GPS location is immediately identified to an accuracy of within four metres. This information is swiftly transmitted to C-track’s emergency response ground and air rescue teams with the backing of the South African Police Services. C-track ICE users can expect law-enforcement agencies to immediately deploy trained personnel to their GPS location. The 2010 World Cup will be a watershed event for South Africa and we are hoping that with the help of C-track ICE, our country will prove its mettle as a safe, exciting and friendly destination for all tourists,” concludes Rousseau.
MOBILE HANDSET ENHANCES PERSONAL SAFETY FOR 2010 SOCCER TOURISTS
|
With the 2010 FIFA World Cup around the corner, soccer tourists from around the world are no doubt casting a keen eye on everything South Africa has to offer over and above its football stadiums.
While buying match tickets, booking suitable hotel accommodation and scoping reliable transport, personal safety and security will also be foremost.
Despite the recent furore over the marketing of ‘stab-proof’ vests to UK soccer fans planning to visit South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, international football enthusiasts are snapping
up match tickets at a brisk rate, suggesting that
no manner of negative hype regarding
South Africa’s ability to protect
its guests will stop them from
flying in for the event.
|
“One of the prerequisites of the FIFA World Cup bidding process is that a host-nation has the ability to protect both local fans and tourists from criminal elements in and around the stadiums,” says Mark Rousseau, managing director of DigiCore Holdings, known internationally for its C-track vehicle security and tracking systems.
“As South Africa's chief World Cup organiser Danny Jordaan has stated, R1,3-billion is being spent to ‘beef up security, which includes deploying 45 000 police officers for the event and the use of new equipment including helicopters, water cannons, body armour and 100 patrol vehicles’,” Rousseau says.
South Africa’s hospitality industry (including hotels, game parks and lodges, B&Bs, restaurants, pubs, tour operations and shuttle services), is gearing up for unprecedented demand as close on half a million visitors from around the world seek to discover the many local tourist attractions on offer, including wildlife safaris, eco-tourism, adventure sports and cultural excursions.
“These activities will take soccer tourists away from the highly-secured areas where the matches take place,” adds Rousseau. “Without trying to over-sensationalise the issue, soccer tourists need to be informed on how best to protect themselves. Muggings are a world-wide phenomenon and travellers make easy targets. While vigilance and common sense play a predominant role in preventing personal attacks in any environment, technology can greatly assist those who feel the need to enhance their protection against criminals.”
Having dominated the fields of stolen-vehicle-recovery and vehicle telematics for more than 25 years in South Africa and abroad, C-track now offers its GPS/GSM ‘track-and-trace’ services in a unique ‘personal-protection’ mobile handset called C-track ICE, marketed locally in conjunction with Cell C and Nashua Mobile.
“Having proved itself in the marketplace over the last four months, South Africans are now familiar with C-track ICE and its adoption rate has been exceptional, especially among scholars and the elderly,” Rousseau explains. “For those coming from abroad to witness the 2010 FIFA World Cup, it offers not only personal tracking functionality, but a host of other valuable services like direction assistance, emergency medical rescue and ‘alert/warning messages’ when a person enters an unsafe area. What’s more, we’ve tailor-made a short-term contract package especially for visiting soccer tourists who will pay a low rental fee with all calls based on local SIM rates.”
Effectively a combined cellphone and tracking device, C-track ICE is compact, lightweight (only 62.5 grams!) and robust, allowing calls to be made to four dedicated numbers (one C-track emergency-assist number and three pre-programmable personal contact numbers) and the receiving of unlimited calls and SMSs, C-track ICE also features a prominent ‘SOS/panic button’ linked directly to C-track’s emergency response centre.
“When the SOS button is activated, a GPS location is immediately identified to an accuracy of within four metres. This information is swiftly transmitted to C-track’s emergency response ground and air rescue teams with the backing of the South African Police Services. C-track ICE users can expect law-enforcement agencies to immediately deploy trained personnel to their GPS location. The 2010 World Cup will be a watershed event for South Africa and we are hoping that with the help of C-track ICE, our country will prove its mettle as a safe, exciting and friendly destination for all tourists,” concludes Rousseau.