A South African Tourism and Tourism Update Online poll has found that more than 64% (two thirds) of tourism businesses are working on improving service ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
The survey set out to measure both attitude and physical preparations of the industry ahead of the event.
Some 350 travel and tourism businesses, representing the broad spectrum of services and facilities in tourism, were polled during the first two months of this year.
The survey specifically measured the extent to which hospitality and a welcoming attitude applied only to World Cup arrivals, or if these were general traits of the tourism industry.
Other findings showed that the majority of respondents (70%), believed that the World Cup would be excellent for business. They were excited about the event and saw it as an opportunity not only to profit from the World Cup, but also to recruit for more business into the future. The remaining respondents (30%) were cynical about the event. It was nothing but a “load of hype” they said. They did not think South Africa was ready to host the event and they were eager to “see the back of it”.
The majority of respondents (63%) felt the industry was already hospitable and welcoming enough and nothing further needed to be done to be more welcoming. The remaining 37% said they would make a special effort to be more welcoming for the June/July influx of visitors such as by giving guests special gifts, hiring translators, learning the diski or changing their menus.
Other than the soccer, the industry believed that safari would be the biggest South African attraction for 2010 fans. Almost two-thirds of the respondents (59%) said most FIFA World Cup visitors would want to spend some time viewing wildlife in one of the game reserves; 21% thought South African food and wine was an important attraction for World Cup guests, whilst only two percent believed that 2010 football fans would try adventure activities such as white water rafting, bungee jumping and abseiling.