Tanno Brosens
23 May 2007
Johannesburg — According to the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the 2010 FIFA World Cup is expected to involve approximately three and a half million people, both South Africans and foreigners, including spectators, officials, sponsors and players. All those involved are likely to travel extensively within the country, placing our transport and accommodation facilities under great pressure.
Assisting with the management of the accommodation issue is MATCH, the FIFA-contracted organisation mandated to manage accommodation provision over the World Cup period. Essentially hotels and, for the first time ever, non-hotel accommodation facilities will sell their rooms to MATCH over the World Cup period. All of these rooms are added to the organisation's inventory, extensively marketed and sold internationally. The first-ever addition of non-hotel accommodation to the inventory was announced by Marthinus van Schalkwyk last year at the first 2010 FIFA World Cup Tournament Accommodation workshop. This development means that World Cup travellers will be treated to a uniquely African experience, being able to book accommodation at game lodges, bed and breakfasts, guesthouses and backpackers. It has also been hailed as another way in which small, medium and micro enterprises will benefit from 2010.
MATCH offers these establishments marketing clout that they would never be able to achieve on their own, through globally distributed brochures and information posted on the official FIFA website (which recorded 4.3 billion page views last year). In order to ensure a certain standard of accommodation for the tourists, establishments that wish to sign up with MATCH must obtain a yearly grading from the Tourism Grading Council in the run up to 2010. This process will be subsidised for the first two years by the Tourism Enterprise Programme (TEP). In this respect, increasing the number of graded accommodation facilities in South Africa will undoubtedly raise the standards of our industry. This positive spin off will hopefully extend beyond just the World Cup period, with proprietors seeing the ongoing value of constant grading. Tourism awareness workshops will also be provided in anticipation of the World Cup by the TEP, adding to the potential lasting benefits. It is, however, crucial that two major industry issues are not overlooked by the government, the tourism council and the accommodation owners.
Firstly, not all non-hotel establishments will sign up with MATCH. Some establishments may only open their doors for business after the deadline, or owners may not feel that their establishment is suited to a partnership of this nature. Alternatively, their establishment may not fall into one of the MATCH Satellite Accommodation Areas (the prerequisite for which is a minimum of 200 rooms in a central area). Non-hotel accommodation facilities like these, who do not sign up with MATCH, must nevertheless be as enthusiastically encouraged by the government to make use of the opportunities that 2010 presents.
Currently, 40 percent of foreign visitors plan their overseas trips on the internet, with the proportion likely to be even higher amongst those planning to attend the World Cup. A web presence is therefore essential for establishments that are not on MATCH.com. It will offer them effortless access to the international internet-using market. Only a small percentage of our guesthouses and B&B's, however, currently have websites. How will tourists discover what these facilities offer, or that they exist, when they are thousands of kilometres away? Even more disturbing is the current minimal number of accommodation facilities that offer safe web-payment options.
Online payment is quite simply the easiest of monetary transactions, and is a basic expectation amongst international travellers. It is vital that the governing bodies of the industry realise this and begin to disseminate this information amongst accommodation providers. If owners do not offer first class services like these, they will simply miss out on what 2010 can offer their businesses. Guests should be provided with the utmost convenience and security. They should be able to make enquiries, bookings and payments, without ever having to pick up a phone or divulge any sensitive information like credit card and banking details. Fortunately, some secure online credit card payment systems are now being put in place to address these problems.
Secondly, it is vital that those who do sign up with MATCH use the momentum that the partnership offers, not only to put themselves on the map for the duration of the World Cup, but beyond this event as well. By improving their technical infrastructure, having web-based facilities and offering better, safer and more convenient services to their guests, they will secure their business's longevity and their foreign clientele far beyond 2010. To this end, accommodation facilities must, of their own volition, keep grading themselves, even when their partnership with MATCH is over. Equally, the Tourism Grading Council must keep revising their criteria to ensure that they are current and congruent with international standards. They must move with the times. Having a website and some form of web-based payment system, where credit card details are never risked, is currently not a criterion for being awarded a grading. Surprising, considering how many locals and foreigners use the internet to plan and book trips.
The onus is on all sides to improve the quality of service, before, during and beyond the World Cup. The government must encourage establishments to up their game, owners of establishments must dedicate themselves to making wise and future-thinking business decisions and guests must demand higher standards from these facilities. There will, after all, be life after 2010.
Tanno Brosens is a partner in the Magus Group, developers of Booksure, an online, secure credit card payment system designed specifically for B&B's and guesthouses. Brosens has worked extensively in the finance and tourism industries, specifically researching international web-based booking systems and trends.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 Business in Africa. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
