Survey finds Cape Town World Cup value for money

A month-long accommodation pricing survey, commissioned by the Minister of Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, to establish a clear picture of prices throughout the country, has found that Cape Town is set to offer the best value for money during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The survey was carried out by Grant Thornton South Africa.

The survey polled 2479 accommodation establishments from all nine provinces with 38% of respondents coming from the Western Cape region. Establishments included hotels, guest houses, bed-and-breakfast establishments, lodges, backpackers, camping and self-catering facilities. The survey results have shown that 65% of Johannesburg establishments are charging more than 50% higher than their peak season rates, with Durban coming in at 53%, hiking their prices to 50% and over their high-season rates. The survey found that less than 20% of Cape Town's establishments are going this route, proving that a hands-on pricing message campaign by the region's tourism authorities has resulted in a fair market for Cape Town.

Good levels of supply

The Grant Thornton Survey attributed the fair pricing in Cape Town to two occurrences, namely: the excess supply of accommodation due to Cape Town's excellent accommodation capacity; and the recent opening of many new hotels adding to the already good levels of supply. This, coupled with a significant slowdown in demand, has forced operators to control rates tightly in order to achieve acceptable occupancies. The second factor is the efforts of Cape Town Tourism to promote ethical pricing during the World Cup and the signing of a 2010 FIFA World Cup "pricing code-of-conduct”.

For more information on World Cup accommodation or the Code of Responsible Pricing for Cape Town, contact Cape Town Tourism on +27 (0)21 487 6800.