World Cup may not fill guest houses

Owners of local guest houses and backpacker hostels have said the expected rush for 2010 World Cup accommodation had not materialised and some fear rooms will stand empty during the tournament.

Therese Botha, of Icon Villas, which represents close to 300 properties, said: "It's definitely not been what we were expecting. It's not what everyone thought and said it would be."

She said, although there had been bookings for the World Cup period, bookings were slower than expected.

"Realistically speaking, we thought we would have had far more bookings by now. A lot of places have said how they're booking out, but personally I find that hard to believe."

Fifa's accommodation manager, Match, has relinquished its rights to 441 695 of the room nights it was marketing, because of lack of demand. A total of 65 022 of these are in the Western Cape.

A room night is a room booked for a night.

The soccer governing body skirted penalisation fees for cancellation by releasing the rooms before an April deadline.

These rooms can now be marketed by the owners themselves instead of through the only World Cup accredited management company.

But owners are unhappy with the release and say Fifa "overhyped" its accommodation needs and has now dropped properties after owners upgraded facilities to meet Match requirements.

Cape Town Tourism has welcomed the release of the rooms and the opportunity now available for establishments to market their rooms during the 20 weeks leading up to the tournament.

"Experience has taught us that last- minute bookings for events like the World Cup are not unusual and we are expecting an increase in booking confirmations during the next few months," spokeswoman Lianne Burton said.

"Pricing is going to be the decisive factor in the ability of establishments to fill their rooms."

She said the tournament would be a "once-in-a-lifetime" chance for the city to become known as a value-for-money destination.

The owner of Ashanti Lodge in Green Point, Lisa Mason, said that the establishment had decided to not register with Match.

"We've been doing this for years. Match wanted to dictate the rates and we were sceptical."

She said Ashanti Lodge had only about 60 percent of its rooms booked for the World Cup.

Cape Town Routes Unlimited chief executive Calvyn Gilfellan said that more bookings could be expected closer to the start of the World Cup.

Posted at 09:22AM Jan 28, 2010 by Editor in Market  |  Comments[7]