Tournament living up to expectations

Instead of the formerly projected 483 000 foreign visitors expected for the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup in South Africa, there will be only 373 000. But they will stay an average of 18 days compared to the 14 days previously projected; and each will spend R30 200 on average, compared to the R22 000 as previously expected.

Add to that the R93 billion gross, 695 000 annual jobs sustained, once-in-a-lifetime profiling of the country, and post-recession projection of the economic impact of the World Cup on South Africa, and it makes for encouraging reading, according to the projections by Grant Thornton Strategic Solutions. (Source: South African Info).

"We have revised the figures post the worldwide recession and major ticket sales phases, and some of the numbers are encouraging," Grant Thornton Strategic Solutions principal Gillian Saunders said in a statement.

"Indications are that overseas tourists will stay an average of 18 days compared to the 14 days used in the original projections.

"Average overseas tourist spend per trip is also forecast to be up – at R30 200 compared to the R22 000 used before," she said.

Foreign World Cup visitors are expected to attend an average of five soccer matches per person, up from the 3.4 matches previously expected – probably because South Africa is, for most, a long-distance destination.

This compares to an average of 2.6 matches attended by foreigners at the World Cup in Germany in 2006.

Going to more matches means visitors are likely to stay in the country for a longer period and therefore, while daily spends remain similar, total trip spend increases.

"It must be understood that some 105 000 of the 373 000 visitors to South Africa over this period are expected to be non-ticket holders; 85 000 of whom would come from Africa for a short visit," said Saunders.

"This 105 000 is down 16% on the 125 000 non-ticket holders projected previously."

A total of 228 500 overseas ticket holders are projected, accounting for 38% of ticket sales.

Ticket sales to Africans account for only 2%, with 11 300 Africans holding tickets. Originally, African ticket holders were expected to number 48 145 – a difference of -77%.

Given evidence of huge interest from the continent, this indicates that there has been a failure in distribution channels and unaffordable pricing.

Economic impact

The gross economic impact will be R93bn, with 62% expected to be generated pre-2010 and 38% during the course of the year. Foreign tourism will account for 16% of the gross impact.

The majority of economic spend comes from the government's spend on infrastructure and some operational expenditure. This has increased significantly compared to original budgets, from R17.4bn (2007) to R30.3bn, with a further R9bn or more spent by cities and provinces.

Net additional economic impact in 2010 is 0.54% of gross domestic product -comprising an estimated 0.48% from net additional foreign tourism and 0.06% Fifa spending.

This is significant, since GDP growth this year is estimated at 2.0 to 2.5%, of which 0.5% is accounted for by a single event.

In terms of the World Cup impact on jobs, Grant Thornton finds the figures very encouraging.

The number of annual jobs sustained in total is 695 000. Of these, 280 000 annual jobs will be sustained in 2010 and 174 000 by the net additional economic activity in this year.

This is an economic measure of equivalent annual jobs sustained by this amount of economic activity, and not new jobs created.

"We continue to be upbeat about the impact of the World Cup," said Saunders.

"The stadia will be full and it will be a great event; the profiling of South Africa and future spin-offs have always been the real benefit of hosting an event of this magnitude." (Source: South African Info)

The information shared by Saunders is significant.

In March, at a press briefing to mark the 100 days countdown, Fifa general-secretary Jerome Valcke confirmed that the world football governing body would earn R25bn, but failed to shed any light on monetary benefits for the host country.

Ticket sales

Regarding the sales of tickets, Fifa is expecting a spectator turnout of 95-97% for the World Cup – numbers also achieved in Germany in 2006. Fifa is also confident that more than 300 000 tickets left for the tournament will be sold out before kickoff on 11 June.

Addressing the media in Zurich last week, Fifa president Sepp Blatter said that, judging by the tickets sales and the excitement around Africa's first World Cup, there was no reason to acquire numbers below what was achieved in Germany.

He alluded to the fact that more than 200 000 tickets had been sold in the first eight days of the latest sales phase.

"If we can sell so many tickets in eight days, what can stop us from selling 300 000 in the days left?" Blatter said.

Fifa further is considering reviewing its ticketing policy following lessons learnt in South Africa. "This World Cup has taught us a lot of lessons," said Valcke. "Maybe we need to be more flexible moving forward to 2014."

Blatter, who played an instrumental role in bringing the tournament to Africa, said the excitement shown by South Africans toward the tournament over the past weeks has made him even more confident.

Millions of South Africans have risen to the occasion by taking part in several initiatives aimed at boosting the country's image as a soccer-loving nation.

These include the Football Fridays initiative, which Blatter described as "phenomenal", and the Fly the Flag for Football campaign.

The 50 days countdown, a campaign organised by the 2010 local organising committee, also attracted much international media attention.