‘Trial-tourism?’
We all heard the local
gossip and have seen the mass media coverage of the story where the Paralympic
star athlete, Oscar Pretorius will
stand trial for the murder of his then girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day 2013 (13th
February).
The niche-market within
the tourism sector- which I am indirectly referring to here- can be defined as
a market that is small in size and people will travel great distances just to
experience this particular market; such in the cases of people travelling for
plastic surgery.
This niche market
refers to experiencing the development of court procedures and ground activity,
how people will react to a specific rueling of the judge and probable shocks to
be unveiled as the case proceeds. ‘Trial-tourism’ or in this case probably more
suiting ‘Oscar-tourism’. Is a market that is growing at an immense pace and
although sometimes short of existence creates a lasting effect not only on the
people involved but also the country’s economy in which ‘Trial-tourism’ is
taking place. This is certaintenly not the first or last time we experience ‘Trial-tourism’
in our mists.
We
saw the same mass media coverage in the trail of O.J. Simpson (1996) that took place in the United States of America
(USA.) and the similarities between the two trails are shocking seeing that
they happened many years apart and on two different continents, but with the
end result being the same that a human life(s) was lost. We can also at this
stage note the huge difference in the two trials, being the popularity of
social media (Facebook and Twitter) and how it possibly could affect the court
case as such. ‘Trial-tourism’ although heart breaking in many aspects is also a
key opportunity for industries not directly related to the proceedings, to test
their abilities to cater for mass amounts of people.
For
instance in the tourism industry will the accommodation sector be able to
provide enough room to accommodate tourist and will our transport systems cope
with the temporarily high demand especially noting the fact that the court case
will be taking place in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria. Travelling for
business is regarded as a type of tourist. This testing is specifically
important in developing countries, as is the case of South Africa, were the
Government and Athletic Associations are tendering for the Summer Olympic Games
to be held in the country within the future.
We last saw such a huge
media storm erupt when former President Nelson
Mandela came to rest late in 2013.
We can expect to see a
very interesting case being brought forward and presented with two very strong
teams facing off against one another (again), Barry Roux will be representing Pretorius and Gerrie Nel
will be the Prosecutor. A possible 107 state witnesses can be called to the
stand. Judge Thokozile Masipa will
lead the court proceedings and she will ultimately decide on Oscar Pretorius’s fate, seeing that
South Africa does not make use of a jury-system.
This story has as of
late no conclusion and a personal judgement by you the reader can be made of
how well establishments cope with the demand after the court case. The court
case is scheduled for two weeks and the Judge has the option to add more days
if any of the parties requests it. Be sure to follow this specific case on YouTube,
in newspapers and specifically designed news channels, if ‘Trial-tourism’
tickles your fancy!
The trial will start on the 3rd of March 2014…
May justice prevail.
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