Accommodation for 2010 World Cup gets thumbs-up

B&B accommodation options for the 2010 FIFA World Cup have met with the approval of 2010's accommodation company - MATCH.

The company appointed by FIFA to ensure the provision of accommodation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup - MATCH - is impressed with the Bed and Breakfast establishments earmarked to host tourists during the event.

Ray Whelan, Chairman of MATCH, described to international media in Beijing on 21 August the standards of conventional Bed and Breakfast enterprises South Africa has to offer during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the world cup as world-class.

“South Africa will offer five-star luxury, they will offer game parks, tours and what we call bed and breakfasts. The impression of a bed and breakfast in my youth wasn’t always favourable, yet in South Africa it is a completely different option.

“Those particular premises are often five-star and offer you every luxury you have possibly known in 2010,” he said, adding: “It’s the diversity of the options which make South Africa a tremendously affordable and viable competition to all the people around the world wishing to enjoy the World Cup in 2010.”

Over and above the existing hotels, South Africans who own bed and breakfast establishments, guest houses and lodges are being urged to register as 2010 accommodation service providers with MATCH.

Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad agreed with MATCH’s assessment of the accommodation South Africa has to offer during the event.

“Accommodation is plentiful and of a high calibre in all the host cities,” he told international journalists in Beijing on Thursday.

Organisers of the world cup and the leadership of the world football governing body FIFA are currently at the 2008 Beijing Olympics to brief the international media about their readiness to host the event.

The delegation includes Dr Pahad, Deputy Minister of Finance Jabu Moleketi, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke, SA Local Organising Committee Chief Executive Officer Danny Jordaan, Commissioner Andre Pruis of the SA Police Service.

Mr Jordaan said that the organising committee and FIFA had signed-off various accommodation establishments in other countries in the SADC region.

“We have already signed hotel rooms in Gaborone in Botswana, Mbabane in Swaziland. We have also been to Mozambique to sign-off more rooms,” he said.