The biggest benefit to the Eastern Cape from the 2010 Soccer World Cup is expected to be in the field of tourism which will lead to major upgrades to the province's principal roads and airports, says Eastern Cape Tourism Board chief executive officer Glenton De Kock.

This would be the case regardless of whether or not the province saw matches or was home base to any of the participating teams, De Kock said in an interview yesterday.

"A lot of people will make the most of having come all the way here by taking trips to see the country, either ahead of the event or afterwards, and for this we have to have an upgraded infrastructure in place," he said.

The R72 road definitely needed an upgrade, and as part of the 2010 plan it should not be hard to get it approved and completed in time.

De Kock said both East London and Port Elizabeth airports needed major expansion to keep up with tourism growth.

These proposals are to be taken to a meeting of provincial tourism CEOs in Limpopo tomorrow and Thursday. The meeting will discuss plans for 2010 and will also focus on the upcoming holiday season.

De Kock said the province was also looking at how to capitalise on South Africa Tourism's vigorous marketing efforts in China and Japan.

"Both Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Bay have ties to cities in China and we need to take advantage of these strategic partnerships."

The Eastern Cape also took part in an event in Tokyo last month which saw it pitching the province to Japanese travel agents.

"The Japanese government wants 20 million of its citizens to travel to specific destinations, including South Africa, by the end of 2007. As a preferred destination we have to make sure we have tourism products of sufficiently high quality that will fit in with the needs of the Japanese traveller."

Buffalo City should start marketing itself aggressively to the domestic market as a "gateway" to the Wild Coast, the N6 route and the Amathole mountain region, De Kock said.