JULIUS BAUMANN

Aviation and Tourism Editor

THE draw for next year’s Soccer World Cup — taking place on December 4 in Cape Town — is likely to give hoteliers in the inner city a boost after the Mother City’s gloomiest winter season in many years.

All of the big hotels in the city centre and the V&A Waterfront are expected to be packed early next month, with bookings promising occupancies of well above 80%.

“When I speak to my colleagues in the industry, it is clear there will not be a spare room in the city,” said Theo Cromhout, sales and marketing director at the Taj Cape Town. The new 166-room hotel will miss out on all the activity as it is only opening officially in January.

However, many hotels, including the Table Bay Hotel and One&Only Cape Town, are virtually booked out for the draw.

Calvyn Gilfellan, CEO of Cape Town Routes Unlimited, said there was much attention on SA at this week’s World Travel Market in London, with the World Cup now just eight months away.

“We are expecting thousands of people to come to Cape Town for the draw, including many in the local tourism industry, who hope to do some last-minute lobbying of the various national teams who will only have a few weeks more to decide where they will be based,” he said.

The draw, which will decide in which group and where the 32 teams taking part in the tournament will play next year, is also to likely trigger a flurry of activity in the hotel industry as teams, sponsors and fans finalise their travel arrangements.

“Once the fans know where their teams are playing, there is going to be a stream of bookings,” said Pam Golding Hospitality MD Joop Demes. “There is also going to be a frantic trade in room inventory as travel and hotel operators attempt to align their room supply with the match schedule.”

Cromhout said the Taj Cape Town was already fully booked for the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.

Hotels in Cape Town’s central business district have had a tough time, with occupancies slipping 11% year on year to an average 59% in the nine months to September. Aggravating the slump in occupancies was a 10% increase in available rooms in Cape Town over the past 18 months.

Revenue per available room was also hard hit by a strong rand, falling 9,8% in dollar terms.

But many operators believe the World Cup draw will lead to new strength in the tourism sector leading up to the tournament.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Source: Business Day