World Cup profiteering could hurt tourism, says Jordaan

By Barry Moody

LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Spiralling prices for
accommodation during the World Cup could damage South Africa's
prospects of enticing tourists back after the competition, the
event's chief organiser said. 

South Africa hopes that the 2010 World Cup will show off the
country's many tourist attractions, from game parks to beaches,
and provide a long term boost to the industry, already a major
foreign exchange earner. 

But some owners of hotels and private homes have inflated
prices by up to six times over the last few months in hope of a
huge cash bonanza from the competition, sowing fears that
profiteering will alienate visitors. 

World Cup organising committee boss Danny Jordaan told
Reuters in an interview on Sunday he was concerned by this
development. "We did make that point to the tourism authorities
and I will raise it again... we have to be seen to be fair." 

Jordaan, in London to make a speech to a major tourism
conference, added: "It is one of the things we asked the tourism
authorities to look at. It's not to look at the World Cup as a
once-off, but to see tourism over a period of time creating a
stable and predictable basis.

"Otherwise you will get a huge influx of tourists into the
country and they don't return. Unfortunately this is one of the
things that has emerged around major events." 

Jordaan said property owners in South Africa thought they
could take advantage of the expected influx of 450,000 foreign
visitors for the World Cup. 

"They say it is the market forces of supply and demand. You
know, huge demand and the price must go up. But I think it does
not make good business sense for sustainable business. If people
feel they did not get a fair deal, they will think twice about
coming back." 


SHORTFALL 

Jordaan said there was still a shortfall of more than 46,000
rooms over the month-long competition from June 11 but there
would be no problem in making it up because this calculation was
based on officially registered accommodation. 

There were almost 1,200 non-graded but comfortable
establishments on top of the 577 graded hotels. 

However, he said there could be problems in some of the
smaller host cities like Nelspruit and Polokwane in the north
and Port Elizabeth on the east coast when there was a large
influx of fans for big matches. 

Jordaan said the problem would be overcome by transporting
fans in and out by air or bus for these matches. 

"That is the bigger challenge. We will have to fine tune the
transport arrangements to solve the accommodation problems in
the host cities." 

Asked if poorer soccer fans would be able to pay the cost of
transport, Jordaan said university and school hostels and small
bed and breakfast establishments would be used to house them.

Schools and universities will be closed during the World
Cup.     

(Editing by Justin Palmer

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