South Africa will get a bigger tourism boost from the knock out phase of the World Cup if the best-supported teams win. That was a difficult choice in yesterday’s two matches. Uruguay ranks 132nd in the world in terms of population (3.5m), although the small population of Uruguay is probably offset by the dedication to football in a country that won the inagural competition and were surprise victors over Brazil in 1950. South Korea was a better bet in terms of population (48.6 million, 26th in the world), but the proportion of the po
South Africa will get a bigger tourism boost from the knock out phase of the World Cup if the best-supported teams win. That was a difficult choice in yesterday’s two matches. Uruguay ranks 132nd in the world in terms of population (3.5m), although the small population of Uruguay is probably offset by the dedication to football in a country that won the inagural competition and were surprise victors over Brazil in 1950. South Korea was a better bet in terms of population (48.6 million, 26th in the world), but the proportion of the population who would be dedicated enough to travel to South Africa is probably relatively small. Ghana has its supporters in South Africa, but Americans would probably spend more. However, it is the progress of countries like Argentina and England that would make a real difference.
Two years ago the Soiuth African government had expected that 500,000 people would come to the tournament,. Two months ago Gillian Saunders at Grant Thortnon in Johannesburg was still forecasting 370,000. During the first fortnight of June, 456.000 foreigners visited South Africa, about 112,000 more than the same period of 2009. That should lead to the World Cup attracting more than 300,000 foreigners, 20 per cent down on the Grant Thornton forecast.
Three factors have depressed the attendance. First, the global recession which means that people, especially the better off who might make such a trip, have less money to spend or, even if they still have the money, are more cautious about spending it. Second, there has undoubtedly been some ‘chiselling’ by hoteliers and package holiday providers. They simply overestimated the ability and willingness of consumers to spend. Hopefully, they have learnt a lesson for Brazil.
The third factor was the perception of high crime rates. This was inbtensified by the publicity surrounding the murder of white supremacist Eugene TerrBlanche in April. This came just at the wrong time in terms of the build up to the tournament. South Africa has made special efforts to deal with the crime problem. Fast-track courts have been set up to deal with crimes created since the start of the World Cup. A BBC journalist had his hotel bedroom burgled in Port Elizabeth, but the helpfulness of the local people was shown by a cleaner who found his wallet and credit cards in a rubbish bin.
Good reviews from those who made the trip should help to boost South African tourism in the future bringing long-term benefits from staging the competition.