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No shortage of rooms
for 2010 World Cup
When England recently qualified for the 2010
Soccer World Cup in South Africa, there were
immediate media reports that there was an
overall shortage of accommodation for the event.
This is not exactly the case according to Mike
Waller, chief executive officer of Dragonfly Africa. He
said: “Accommodation in Johannesburg is very tight,
although we still have inventory both in hotels and
apartments. We also have accommodation available in
the four and five-star categories in Cape Town, Durban,
Sun City, on the Blue Train and at several top private
game lodges.
“The situation, however, changes on a daily basis as
accommodation that has not found a buyer – or where a
deposit condition has not been fulfilled – is released back
on to the market. We expect the availability situation to
change again after the all-important December draw
which will determine which team plays where.
“The pressure is on Johannesburg accommodation,
but we are advising some of our clients to go with
the base camp/hub concept. For example, basing
themselves in a beautiful city such as Cape Town and
flying same day in and out of the matches not being
played in that city.” The recent announcement from
Mango, that they will fly 24 hours, over the tournament
period, is therefore excellent news.
Mr Waller also commented that some larger groups
that have a healthy budget can also choose to stay at
destinations such as Victoria Falls from where they will be
flown in and out of matches by private charter aircraft.
There is also a misguided perception that all
44 incentiveworld.com Vol. 9 No. 4 2009
accommodation must be brokered through MATCH or
the officially appointed tour operators.
While not permitted to sell match tickets, Dragonfly
Africa has been involved with Soccer World Cup from
the very beginning and has so far acquired in excess
of 10 000 room nights, much of which has been
contracted out to international clients.
In addition to that, Dragonfly Africa has at its disposal
a number of coaches – 44 and 22 seaters, as well as
Quantum’s, six seater Combi’s and saloon cars, all with
registered drivers and transport managers to oversee
vehicle movements. Dragonfly also has a pool of
registered and experienced guides and tour directors,
who have committed themselves to Dragonfly for the
duration of the Soccer World Cup.
Mr Waller concluded: “As one of Southern Africa’s
leading destination management companies, we have
very experienced staff who are used to dealing with large
group movements, as well as individual travellers year
round and we have found that hotels and game lodges
are happy to work with us during the Soccer World Cup,
because they know us very well, and know that we will also
be providing them with a healthy flow of clients before
and into the future after the tournament has ended.
“We have exceptional relationships with staff at
the hotels as well as with our regular tour guides, the
transport companies, restaurants and venues. These
relationships will be critical in ensuring a smooth flow of
operations during this very busy time in South Africa.”�
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Seychelles High Commission
opens office in Pretoria
At the recent Seychelles Islands
workshop held at the Birchwood
Hotel in Johannesburg, it was
announced that the Seychelles High
Commission had opened an office in
Pretoria which would service
Johannesburg and Pretoria and be
run by Marsha Parcou. The Cape
Town tourism office would remain
under the leadership of David
Germain. Seen at the workshop were,
from left: Deon Freemantle, Air
Seychelles; Alain St Ange, director
of tourism, Seychelles Tourism; and
David Germain, regional manager,
Seychelles Tourism.
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