Tournament News

'Recession won't affect 2010'

2009-11-10 15:08

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Cape Town - Organisers of the 2010 Soccer World Cup do not expect the world's economic recession to affect the number of visitors to the tournament.

Organising committee chief executive Danny Jordaan told a press briefing on Tuesday that 450 000 foreign tourists are still expected to visit South Africa for the World Cup.

"I expect that the number 450 000 fans for the World Cup should not be adjusted," Jordaan said. "We will remain with that figure for now."

The tournament's organisers have sold more than 600 000 tickets out of the 3.1 million available.

Jordaan said he expected interest in the tournament to pick up after the team draw on December 5.

"We will have to look beyond December 5 (to see) how interest is translated into real commitment of travel.

"We will be able to see impact of crisis on extra cash in the hands of fans to travel."

It was a good sign that fans had been filling up soccer stadiums during competitions in Europe.

"The World Cup qualifying matches are all sold out. So fans are travelling.

"We will see after December 5 what the level of interest throughout the world is.

"England should bring a significant number. So will Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Argentina, Italy and we will then see whether we will realise the 450 000 target."

Jordaan said he had hosted a packed press conference at the World Travel Market in London last Thursday.

"The indications are huge level of interest."

Your Comments

Nito11/14/2009 6:33 PM: BS!!!!!!!! What he is not saying is that those visitors will not have as much free cash to dump on our doorstep as they did a year ago! What is the use of having oodles of visitors attend the matches and no-one spending any signioficant money outside the stadiums. Statistics could be great and very usefull, but then you need to know how to interpret it, Mr dumbass Danny!!!

Morris11/11/2009 10:36 AM: Is he right or is he wrong? Or is he still thumbsucking and hoping for the best? Ticket sales are dismall to say the least!

SEAN11/10/2009 4:09 PM: Sorry to burst your bubble , but you can not compare europe to africa !! It`s like comparing sand to water , ffs !! Just a pointer or two ! Europe has a proper public transport sytem in place , S.A does not ! I`m not saying Europe hasn`t got crime , but your chance to get robbed or murderd in S.A is much higher !! How can you compare a first world country to 3rd world country ???? Wait and see , for SA`s SAKE I REALY HOPE THEY PULL IT OFF !! I`m just being realistic !!!

Kuvukiland11/10/2009 4:03 PM: Rubbish,did he state the reason why he thinks the numbers will not be affected.

Awwsum11/10/2009 4:01 PM: It might be that the number of visitors won't be a lot less,however,even I can tell you that you can expect them to spend less and shorten their stays(compared to 2006's SWC)...Bet we really regret missig out on 2006 now

Optimist.11/10/2009 3:47 PM: I really do hope the interest in the world cup is as planned. I do however, after discussions with friends and family overseas, feel that fans are going to be hesitant due to crime here.

dumkofp11/10/2009 3:29 PM: The man is spot on. If you belong to the right booitjies in this country you won't feel the economic recession. We have funds we haven't used jet.......

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Group A		P	W	PTS
1	Uruguay	3	2	7
2	Mexico	3	1	4
Group B		P	W	PTS
1	Argentina	3	3	9
2	South Korea	3	1	4
Group C		P	W	PTS
1	USA	3	1	5
2	England	3	1	5
Group D		P	W	PTS
1	Germany	3	2	6
2	Ghana	3	1	4
Group E		P	W	PTS
1	Holland	3	3	9
2	Japan	3	2	6
Group F		P	W	PTS
1	Paraguay	3	1	5
2	Slovakia	3	1	4
Group G		P	W	PTS
1	Brazil	3	2	7
2	Portugal	3	1	5
Group H		P	W	PTS
1	Spain	3	2	6
2	Chile	3	2	6