Dubai: A total of 2.2 million out of 2.9 million Fifa 2010 World Cup tickets have been sold with just over 100 days to go till the showpiece gets underway.
"In this economic climate, that is excellent. There will also be a lot more people booking as we near the event," South African Consul-General Fanus Schoeman told Gulf News in Dubai.
According to Schoeman, Dubai's position as a travel hub means that there are now five flights a day to South Africa, ensuring that passengers will find flights even if they book late.
In order to accommodate the influx of tourists, tourist operators, airlines and hotels have rallied to offer a wide range of travel packages.
Emirates is offering tailor-made Fifa World Cup Travel Packages which include flights, accommodation, ground transportation and match tickets.
One package is ‘Follow your team' which includes tickets to all the matches of the person's chosen team along with transport and accommodation in the cities where they will play.
Custom packages
"Through Emirates' packages, no matter where your team is playing, be it Rustenburg or Cape Town or any of the other eight venues, you will be transported from your chosen hotel to the match and back again, even if it is all the way across South Africa," Ahmad Khoury, Emirates senior vice president for Commercial Operations in the Gulf, Middle East and Iran, said in a statement.
More than 220 appointed tour operators and retail agents are selling the Fifa World Cup packagers for Emirates.
As the authorised agent of MATCH Hospitality in the Middle East, for the sale of the official hospitality programme for the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa, MMI Travel has also introduced travel packages which include flights, accommodation, ground transportation and match tickets. Deals include the Fifa-authorised packages comprising tickets, flights, accommodation and transfers.
South African Airways is working with the South African Travel Centre to offer flights and accommodation packages for a variety of budgets.
"Customers in Dubai are generally... last minute in their booking. So far the packages are 55 per cent booked, but we are expecting a lot more nearing the event," Ruhi Syed, sales executive at South African Airways, said.
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisations (UNTWO), South Africa, which has already established itself as a prominent tourist destination with nearly 10 million tourists each year, is expecting continued growth as a result of the World Cup.
"The country is spending a whopping 40 billion rand (Dh19.14 billion) on projects related to the World Cup including new hotels, safari lodges and stadiums. A record 450,000 international visitors are expected during the month-long tournament which kicks off in June," Michel Noblet, chief executive of Hospitality Management Holdings, told Gulf News.
Over five years, preparation has been put into organising the world renowned event. With only 100 days to go, Schoeman believes that the country is ready to welcome the masses of football fans and tourists.
"This is the first time ever that there has been an event like this on African soil so we really want it to be a huge success. We are now ready for the World Cup. We have had trial runs at all the stadiums, we have prepared crowd control, transport in getting to the stadiums... Now is the time to iron out all the small hiccups," he said.
In order to ensure South Africa remains a tourist destination after the games, Schoeman says they are specifically asking tourist operators, hotels and airlines not to use the event as an opportunity to increase their prices.
Special request
"From the very beginning we have requested the hotel and aviation industry not to increase their prices for the event as it would be counter-productive for what we'd want to achieve not only for the World Cup but for the tourist industry after the World Cup," he said.
According to Schoeman, enough tickets have been sold with enough remaining for the football fans looking to purchase them just before the tournament begins.
"Because of this availability there shouldn't be a marked up resale market," he says.
Emirates' ‘Follow Your Team' Fifa packages start at Dh14,145 with departures out of Dubai, based on double room occupancy.
This includes Emirates flights to South Africa, five nights hotel accommodation in a selected base camp of one's choice, Category 1 match tickets and all ground transportation logistics.
A package for the final match, which includes a flight to South Africa with Emirates, three nights hotel accommodation in a selected base camp of one's choice, a Category 1 match ticket for the final and all ground transportation logistics, starts at Dh20,040.
