About 15 000 additional visitors to national parks during the 2010 soccer world cup should generate more than R50 million in revenue, said a top parks official on Monday.

"The exciting part with 2010 is that approximately 15 000 people will be introduced to the national parks," said South African National Parks tourism and marketing managing executive Glenn Phillips.

"If all goes according to plan, it means the value of inventory sold to Match (the services company selected by FIFA to provide ticketing, accommodation and event information technology during the world cup) per day is in the region of R1.4 million..."

This over the event period would "amount to an impressive R 52.5 million based on two people per unit inclusive of dinner, bed and breakfast and activity".

Phillips, speaking at the tourism indaba in Durban, said the estimates were based on the number of people Match would bring to the parks as world cup visitors.

SAnParks have allocated 30% of their accommodation to be contracted to Match.

The remaining 70% would be available for the general public to book directly.

Three Kruger National Park camps, Skukuza, Berg en Dal and Pretoriuskop, would be given over exclusively to Match.

Mobile tented units erected within these camps would provide an additional 420 beds during the cup.

After the cup, the tents would be moved to parks across the country which needed more accommodation during the peak season or during specific events like the Namaqua National Park's flower season.

Other parks contracted to Match which are near cup venues arethe Addo Elephant National Park, Garden Route National Park and Golden Gate Highlands National Parks.

Source: Sapa