Tourism organisations on Monday blamed the global recession and high airfares for the lower than expected turnout of Soccer 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
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