Nelson Mandela Bay has a shortage of 21 193 beds for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, according to tourist projections by MATCH, the event services company mandated by Fifa to be responsible for accommodation.
This was revealed this week by Urban-Econ Tourism director Shannon Moffett to the "2010 Tourism Readiness" conference. She said NMB currently had 6 207 beds and 27 400 would be required.
Provincially, she said, there was a "large gap" in terms of accommodation in all categories, which was "threatening the province's ability to maximise tourism potential from the tournament".
There was also an insufficient supply of four- and five-star accommodation "to attract teams to base themselves in the province".
Moffett said the accommodation objectives of MATCH were to ensure there was "an appropriate supply of accommodation at fair prices and reasonable terms" and that the accommodation "promotes both the image of Fifa and South Africa as a host country".
She said for this reason they had decided that all accommodation contracted to them would have to be graded by the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa.
MATCH, Moffett added, would contract with both hotel and SMME accommodation as well as national and provincial parks and surrounding satellite areas to host cities, providing they were able to offer no fewer than 200 rooms.
She said the difficulty with establish an "exact picture" of accommodation in the Eastern Cape was "suggestive of difficulties the tourist will have in getting good information about accommodation".
It was essential that a comprehensive and regularly updated data base was established in line with the data base of the Eastern Cape Tourism Board and Tourism Grading Council.
With regard to "experiences and attractions", Moffett noted that while there was a good supply of nature-based and adventure tourism products, "no information can be found on township tours".
There was also a relatively low supply of entertainment and shopping experiences.
She said tourists were likely to experience difficulty in finding information about attractions offered in the province while there was "no iconic product" that had been developed "to act as an anchor in terms of attractions to the area".
Moffett noted too that there was little packaging of products for tourists and while all the necessary products might exist in a specific area "without the packaging of such products, the area is likely to lose its competitive advantage".
Opportunities to overcome some of the challenges included:
Eastern Province Herald
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge
