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Johannesburg - Tourism organisations on Monday blamed the global recession
and high airfares for the lower-than-expected turnout of 2010 FIFA World Cup tourists.
"We believe
that under a different economic climate, demand would have extended to areas outside the host cities and to
the wide variety of non-hotel accommodation options available in
South Africa," said
the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa) and the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (Satsa) in a joint statement.
"Had it not
been for the global recession we have faced during the critical reservation periods of the 2010 FIFA World Cup,
South Africa would have secured a significantly higher level of
visitors,which in turn would have necessitated the full use of all
room inventory."
The two tourism
bodies also said there were other contributing factors.
These included
"the high airfares that temporarily prevailed at the time of the final draw and the inflexibility from
service providers looking to secure contracts for 33 days".
Match, which was
officially mandated by soccer's governing body FIFA to provide accommodation during the tournament,
initially contracted accommodation for 450 000 visitors.
But Tourism
Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said in May that the number of expected World Cup visitors had been revised downwards to 300 000.
- Sapa