{"id":9607,"date":"2010-06-20T09:40:43","date_gmt":"2010-06-20T07:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=9607"},"modified":"2010-06-20T09:40:43","modified_gmt":"2010-06-20T07:40:43","slug":"world-cup-visitors-praise-fan-tastic-cape-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/world-cup-visitors-praise-fan-tastic-cape-town\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup visitors praise “fan-tastic” Cape Town"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>For the first time the hospitality industry of Cape Town has had a taste of the power of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with about 25 000 England supporters streaming into the city on Friday, to see their team play Algeria,\u00a0in what many described as a most disappointing match, with a goal-less draw.\u00a0\u00a0The visitors to Cape Town are loving the city and its fantastic “winter” weather, today in particular, and it will\u00a0be sure to have a good tourism spin-off for future visits.<\/p>\n

Accommodation establishments are booked out, restaurants and pubs are filled with patrons, and the V&A Waterfront was reported on Twitter to be “swarming with tourists”, with a warning issued to locals to\u00a0“do not go”!\u00a0\u00a0The most popular pub in the Waterfront for the English fans\u00a0is Ferryman’s Tavern, its special\u00a0ale suiting the British taste, reports The Times.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 A pod of whales even came close to the Cape Town Stadium in Table Bay, in honour of the British visitors!<\/p>\n

The accommodation bookings were extremely last minute, with the last available four of the 11 rooms at Whale Cottage Camps Bay, for example, being sold out in the last 24 hours prior to the start of the match.\u00a0 The average length of stay is just three days, until the England fans head off elsewhere tomorrow.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Camps Bay’s beachfront was spilling over with fans packing pavement cafes and restaurants, as\u00a0on a summer’s day, despite the overcast day yesterday.<\/p>\n

The city is looking festive, with the red-and-white England flag adorning many an accommodation establishment, and restaurants and pubs.\u00a0\u00a0 The feared soccer hooligans\u00a0did not travel to Cape Town, it would appear, the cost of the ticket prices being a deterrent.<\/p>\n

A highlight for Cape Town is the VIP presence at the match on Friday of the Princes William and Harry, looking very uncomfortable in their suits; Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London; and David Beckham, sitting at the edge of the pitch.\u00a0\u00a0 Johnson said: “I’ve been to Cape Town for just two days and the atmosphere is mind-blowing.\u00a0 The nation is united in enthusiasm and the tournament is progressing nicely”, according to\u00a0the Cape Argus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It appears that the number of visitors to South Africa has increased since the earlier depressing news that the number of international visitors had reduced, with so many last minute bookings.\u00a0 It appears that many charter flights have entered Cape Town, with groups of 20 – 30 soccer fans on board each, all seemingly last minute bookings.\u00a0\u00a0The England fans have been followed by the British media, and it is heartening to note how the reporting\u00a0\u00a0by the British media, SkyNews <\/strong>in particular, has changed to reporting far more positively about our country.\u00a0 Last night the TV station showed an interview with its correspondent in Cape Town, filmed on Signal Hill with a beautiful backdrop of the Stadium and Table Bay.\u00a0\u00a0 The reporter referred to England needing the Cape of Good Hope for its next match!<\/p>\n

South African Customs have reported that\u00a0456 000\u00a0international visitors had entered South Africa between 1 – 13 June, compared to 345 000 visitors in the same period in 2009, reports The Times<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 Obviously not all visitors are attending the World Cup, especially as many of them flew in as late as 11 June, so they may include the regular cross-border visitors from neighbouring African countries, coming to shop in South Africa.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Next week looks more depressing, the Portugal versus North Korea, and Cameroon versus Netherlands matches not having as much appeal, if accommodation bookings are anything to go by.\u00a0 All fingers are crossed for strong teams making the round of 16, the quarter final and semi-final in Cape Town, as this will fill up Cape Town again.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Good performances by England, Germany, the USA,\u00a0and the Netherlands in their next matches will have an important influence on last minute fans coming to South Africa, says FEDHASA, reports Fin24.<\/strong>\u00a0 This effect will not be felt if Brazil and Portugal progress to the final stages of the tournament, it is speculated.\u00a0\u00a0 Only 10 000 German visitors came to South Africa for the World Cup, after national soccer hero and FIFA executive member Franz Beckenbauer expressed his concerns in earlier days about the World Cup having been awarded to South Africa.\u00a0\u00a0 He bravely changed his tune when he briefly spoke at the World Cup Kick-Off Concert.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

No matter who plays whom in the next 20 days of the World Cup, the accommodation bookings are far better in Host Cities than they would have been in any other June and July\u00a0ever.\u00a0 Whale Cottage Camps Bay now has an occupancy of\u00a065\u00a0 % for the World Cup, having improved its occupancy by\u00a05\u00a0percentage points in the first ten days of the World Cup.\u00a0\u00a0 Given last minute bookings for the Quarter and Semi Finals, occupancy could end off at around 70 % for Whale Cottage Camps Bay.\u00a0 The reality, however, is that May\u00a0had the worst occupancy ever, thus balancing the gain with the loss.\u00a0\u00a0The Whale Cottages in Hermanus, Plettenberg Bay and Franschhoek have\u00a0barely gained from the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the first time the hospitality industry of Cape Town has had a taste of the power of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with about 25 000 England supporters streaming into the city on Friday, to see their team play Algeria,\u00a0in what many described as a most disappointing match, with a goal-less draw.\u00a0\u00a0The visitors to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[7,15,3,124,21,11],"tags":[3715,3513,5271,2145,5274,32370,598,32366,32397,5272,2902,3518,5268,3035,18,32369,2912,560,32377,5261,3509,32390,3506,5270,5273,5269,5,1587,562,32393,163,32373,376,531,5262],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t