Accomodations To Be Offered In Neighboring Countries

Cities like Durban expecting a shortage of beds. The article refers to this mysterious marketing company called MATCH Hospitality that FIFA has partnered with to...uh, to do things. This statement in particular gives me hope: "Now, with just over a year to go to kick-off, the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa) has called on hotels and owners of bed-and-breakfast establishments and guest houses who have not yet signed up with MATCH (Fifa's service partner handling accommodation and ticketing) to do so."

This could indicate a program similar to one that was run in South Korea for the 2002 WC. Operators of what they call "love motels" (hourly hotels where couples go to express their love for one another) registered with an organization that operated an officially-sanctioned booking web site. The love motels were put into nightly-rate tourist service during the World Cup. Travelers like me were able to go on and book rooms for ridiculously low rates like $20/night. It worked exceptionally well. The service even provided translators the motel operators could call for assistance in dealing with non-Korean-speaking visitors. I hope that South Africa will have a similar program.

I've been loosely following this INDABA convention for the African travel industry. It was announced there that Mauritius, the tiny island nation to the east Madagascar, would be joining a partner program for countries neighboring South Africa to provide accomodations for WC travelers. This could be a good development if air transport is cheap enough to make it feasible. It would be great to take some time in a place like Mauritius.