“THERE is no question at all that the industry will be able to accommodate people… and accommodate them easily and comfortably.”
This is the word from both South African Tourism and the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (TGCSA) in response to statements made by Fifa President, Sepp Blatter, that there is insufficient accommodation in South Africa for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Moeketsi Mosola, ceo of South African Tourism, says the organisation is investing just over R200m in a global destination marketing campaign aimed at attracting as many visitors as possible to South Africa, as well as marketing South Africa as the host nation for the world cup. This is all part of South African Tourism’s stated ambition to welcome 10 million visitors to South Africa by 2010.
“We are determined and we are confident. We would not have invested the nation’s money in marketing on this scale if there were any doubt at all around capacity for 2010,” he says. “Besides, 2010 is not seen, and never has been seen, as an end in itself for tourism. It is but a milestone, albeit a significant milestone, in the development to maturity and full global competitiveness of the industry and the destination.”
MATCH (the services company contracted by Fifa to provide accommodation) requires 55 000 rooms for championship visitors. However, MATCH has so far managed to contract only approximately 28 000 rooms as some members of South Africa’s hospitality industry chooses to market their products and services independently.
However, the tourism authority asserts that the fact that MATCH has managed to contract only 28 000 rooms to date does not mean that there is insufficient accommodation capacity in South Africa for 2010.
“In fact, we have almost 100 000 graded hotel and non-hotel rooms and we grade in the region of 150 establishments a month. South Africa attracts between 500 000 and 600 000 visitors a month in the normal course of business, and there is ample accommodation for these people. There is no question at all that the industry will be able to accommodate 2010 arrival and accommodate them easily and comfortably,” says Thembi Kunene, ceo at the TGCSA.
Mosola, however, cautions the South African accommodation industry to be sensible around 2010 pricing policies and structures. “One of this destination’s most compelling benefits is the outstanding value for money it offers visitors,” he says. “If accommodation providers inflate rates beyond what is reasonable for 2010, they will do much to erode this benefit, damage the destination’s hard-won reputation for affordability and impact negatively on tourism arrivals in the medium to long term.”
