200 826 more tourists visited the country during the month of June compared to the same period in 2009. Earlier projections were for twice this figure. A retailer I know says shops had their worst period in 2 weeks, and that tourists were paying for internet access and little else.
In that regard, the MCS recorded a total number of foreigners visiting the country from June 1 to July 1 as 1 020 321 compared to 819 495 for the same period in 2009. This represented an increase of 200 826 or 25%.
Mamoepa said the MCS had further recorded Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Malalwi and Zambia as among the top visitors in the country during the period. They were followed by the United Kingdom, US, Germany, Australia, Brazil and Mexico.
Meanwhile, the World Cup quarter final clash between Argentina and Germany drew a record 300 000 fans to Cape Town's inner city on Saturday, authorities said.
The Cape Town Stadium was filled to capacity with 64 100 spectators while 42 000 people passed through the fan area on the Grand Parade during the day, the city's communications department said.
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clipped from www.sport24.co.za
2 comments:
By now the figures show that even the original expectations foreign visitors for the World Cup have been far exceeded. Before the World Cup semi-final has been played the financial benefits are already being computed. There will be undoubted immediate economic benefit to South Africa for having hosted such a magnificent tournament. What is far more encouraging for tourism in South Africa is the relaying of positive impressions of our country to all corners of the world. It is no coincidence that an international hotel reservation site is published that Cape Town is being featured as one of the most sought after tourist destinations for the 2010 summer season.Since tourism is one of the economic sectors that creates employment, the long term benefits will be widely felt.
The problem lies in the answer to this question: who benefits? The answer is that essentially the beneficiaries are people who are already wealthy, not really the poor. So you have to ponder taxpayers money going, in the billions, to build stadiums and perhaps inspire tourism, but homes and electricity and drinking water aren't provided, and electricity prices are increasing. Employment is often cited as a tourism offshoot...I struggle to imagine how this really impacts on someone in a squatter camp. Someone who goes to hotel school yes, someone in tourism yes. You may think criticism is cynical, but ignorance of the poor does every industry disservice, and perpetuates the crime problem. For healthy tourism, look after the poor, and you'll begin to take steps towards lowering crime.
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