The South African tourist industry is preparing their self for the World Cup. International and local tour operators are trying to sell their tours and activities to the supporters, while all the big national parks are making their parks ready for a peak in the number of tourists.

But is the world cup good on the longer term? On forehand you will say yes, but this really depends on how South Africa will handle a big tournament like the World Cup. I think the World Cup can make or break South Africa. The tourist industry can get a really big boost if everything is going well. But it will break South Africa with only a small incident, because then all the foreigners will say “it is too dangerous in South Africa, don’t go there!”

Martijn van de Put, founder of www.findaroominsa.com , a company were people can book their world cup accommodation in Port Elizabeth, thinks the World Cup will be a success in South Africa. “Everybody here in South Africa is looking forward to the tournament,  they cannot effort any problems and they know that, if something is going wrong it will be a huge letdown for the tourists industry on the long-term”

Actually South Africa is really depending on the World Cup. Even with accommodation. If something is going wrong, it will be a big loose.

It stupid to think like this, let’s try to think positive. The World Cup will be a big success over here!

Ayoba!

South Africa is in a rush; Everybody is preparing themselves for the upcoming World Cup this year. A lot of work still needs to be finished to make this event a complete success! It is not that simple. Many new accommodations for our upcoming guests are built and many logistic plans are made to make South Africa able to transport the thousands and thousands of guests all around the country.

Unfortunately, South Africa is not the country with the best roads and logistic skills; many roads are still not finished and there will be a lack of parking facilities around different World Cup stadiums. The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth for example only provides around 3,000 parking spots while more than 40,000 people can visit the stadium. Next to that, the Nelson Mandela Bay government, which represents the Eastern Cape area of Port Elizabeth, has their doubts if all the roads towards the stadium will be finished when the World Cup will start in this city.

South Africa’s accommodation suppliers have to find a solution to this problem when their guests are arriving. Many car rental companies increased their prices for renting a car, so many visitors will not be able to rent one and transport themselves to the football match they came for.  Besides there is a major demand for rental cars; A lack of transport for World Cup visitors might be the biggest problem during the World Cup.

Luckily, there are accommodation suppliers who have prepared themselves for this upcoming problem; Martijn van der Put, founder of www.findaroominSA.com is one of them. His company provides many extra services for his guests. This includes fully security for his guests, many organized day time activities in the city of Port Elizabeth and its wildlife areas, but also every day transport towards the stadium and other main attractions in the city Port Elizabeth like fan parks. Martijn van der Put’s says: ‘Not all my guest are able to transport themselves to the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. My goal is to provide a total service package together with our accommodation. We want to give them a feeling and a memory to not forget. A transport service is definitely one of this service points which needs to be offered. We are there to provide this and transport our guests to every place they want in Port Elizabeth’. South Africa maybe not quite ready for the World Cup; FindaroominSA definitely is!

Our country is in flourish, the people, the government; everybody is excited about the World Cup. Of course, there are minor complications caused by unprofessional management, failures in engineering or just bad planning. Of course, there are safety problems. However, these problems will not ruin the tournament. Africa is a continent, which will always be threatened by problems like that. Nevertheless, all the negative speculations, South Africa is ready to host the 2010 World Cup Football.

Enough negative speculations for now. It’s time to talk about World Cup accommodation. It’s no secret that there used to be a shortage of accommodation in South Africa, especially when you need to host 500.000 people in one month. There are still enough accommodations to book for the World Cup in South Africa. Martijn van der Put, founder of www.findaroominsa.com, reckons that people will book their accommodation last minute. He expect to see a increase in bookings in May. Some people have already booked their accommodation through Find a Room in South Africa, most of them are budget accommodation in dorms. Martijn van der Put says: “the people who are coming to South Africa  have already been paying loads of money for a flight tickets and football tickets. Saving money is one of the main activities for the coming years, caused by the economic crisis. The criminality is one of the main factors, which influences the influx of supporters. Van der Put reckons that a lot of people are not planning to visit South Africa cause of those two factors. We need to reach those people who are still planning to come and want to enjoy their stay in South Africa. It’s up to us to offer them the best service and an amazing experience in this wonderful country. As we say in South Africa, Ayoba!!