Barbara Cole

 March 31 2010 at 01:04PM - Source iol.co.za

Fifty three percent of Durban accommodation establishments were planning to charge more than 50 percent above their peak season rates for the World Cup, a survey into price gouging has found.

This is the second highest in the country after Gauteng with 65 percent, the survey commissioned by South African Tourism has revealed.

"This is not too good," Gerhard Patzer, the chairman of the region's Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa), said last night.

However, Patzer believes that many of the hotels, guest houses and B&Bs charging more than 50 percent of their highest rack rate (the price, inclusive of VAT, charged to the public before any discount) would not get their price.

"The reality might be very different," he predicted.

Fedhasa would conduct an investigation after the World Cup to see what rates establishments actually got compared with what they had hoped to charge, he said.

"There are rooms available in Durban and they are still being cancelled, as Match (Fifa's accommodation organisers) are still returning rooms as there is no call for them," said Patzer, explaining that many fans wanted to be based in Gauteng where there were more stadiums and where more teams were based.

Gauteng has 21 matches, 14 team bases, the International Broadcast Centre and the Fifa and organising committee headquarters.

The survey, carried out by Grant Thompson, was commissioned to get an accurate picture in the wake of anecdotal reports that World Cup prices were "significantly above season rates," the Minister of Tourism, Martinhus van Schalkwyk, recalled when he announced the findings.

Although the electronic questionnaire into the controversial issue was sent to 15 882 establishments, only 2 479 completed it.

Nationwide, it was found that the majority of operators - 74 percent - were charging less than 50 percent above their peak rates.

Eleven percent were charging more than 100 percent of their high season rates.

Van Schalkwyk said the survey found that many operators recognised the damaging impact that exorbitant prices would have on the legacy objectives of the World Cup.

A code of conduct was to be rolled out for major events and industry organisations would continue to take strong steps against price gouging transgressors, he said.

"Given the fact that South Africa is a robust free market economy, fans are encouraged to shop around, and avoid establishments with exorbitant prices, in line with our desire that South Africa continues to remain a value-for-money destination," he said.

Durban-based Heather Hunter, president of the National Accommodation Association, agreed that many businesses would end up bringing down their rates to fill their rooms: "... but the mood remains positive as there is still a couple of months to go," she said," she said.

Jennings: Blatter's worst nightmare?

Andrew Jennings, a freelance journalist, a writer of books, and a TV reporter, may be Sepp Blatter's worst nightmare.

By Michael Hamlyn - Sourced from :By I-Net, www.inet.co.za, Updated: 2010/04/28

Andrew Jennings, a freelance journalist, a writer of books, and a TV reporter, may be Sepp Blatter's worst nightmare.

Jennings cheerfully accuses the Swiss president of Fifa, of corruption, theft, fiddling his expenses to keep his mistresses in comfort, and the organisation he heads of being "deeply, deeply corrupt at the highest level."

Speaking to the Cape Town Press Club on Monday Jennings added that Blatter will not sue him. "His lawyers can't seem to find my address to send a writ," he said.

But he reckons that the Fifa leader "is on the happy end of three million pounds", and that a Swiss sports marketing company acted as the conduit for huge sums of cash coming from the sponsors of the World Cup competitions.

Jennings moved from suspicions and innuendoes to outright name-filled accusations in 2008 when he was the only English language reporter attending a trial in Zug, Switzerland, where the hearing and more importantly court documents showed the extent of the involvement of Fifa and other football bodies in the slush funds that bought votes, allowed sponsorships and generally greased the World Cup machine.

The likelihood is that we shall hear more of Jennings, despite the fact that he has been long banned from Fifa press conferences.

A book laying out Fifa corruption in detail is to be launched in this country this week.

Agents battle to find tenants as soccer visitors opt for hotels

Apr 25, 2010 12:00 AM | By PREGA GOVENDER and BONGANI MTHETHWA

Source : Sunday Times

Like thousands of homeowners, Karen Ebersohn had hoped to cash in on the World Cup. But months after listing her property, she has yet to receive a single inquiry.

"We were so excited about the World Cup and about doing our share to make the visitors feel at home," she said. The mother of three had hoped to rent out her four-bedroom house in Nina Park, Akasia, Pretoria, for R16600 a day. She would use her windfall to pay for her three children's studies.

Ebersohn, who had planned to move in with her mother a few blocks away, is among hundreds of South African property owners who have had a rude awakening as estate and marketing agents battle to secure tenants.

Several agencies have confirmed that foreign soccer fans are showing little interest in private homes, even though rentals have been dramatically slashed.

With 85% of the three million World Cup tickets sold to South Africans, it is not surprising that estate agencies are battling to move the beds on their books.Last year, Seeff Properties embarked on a joint venture with soccer legend Gary Bailey after it had emerged that Match, Fifa's accommodation contractor, was struggling to sign the required 55000 rooms. But there's been little demand. Tracy French, Seeff's general manager, said: "People's first choice is always going to be a hotel. So we understand why the demand for residential properties has not been high."

Sandton and Randburg were by far the most popular destinations. But, even there, bookings haven't taken off. Tracy Pugin, director of Seeff's Randburg rentals, said bookings were slow, despite rental prices having come down considerably from between R1000 and R1500 per person a day to between R300 and R800.She said they had only 60 bed deals in Sandton and Randburg. About 4000 beds were still available in Randburg and about 10000 in Sandton.

Three other agents said that none of the 1600 beds in private homes on their books had been taken.Many homeowners spent thousands of rands on new furniture, fittings, curtains and linen in anticipation of World Cup demand.

Durban homeowner Jose Matos, who had listed his four-bedroom, double-storey Glenmore home with Seeff Properties, said he was very disappointed that he had not secured a booking, even after dropping his price from R650 per person a night to R500. "There hasn't been a single inquiry. I don't know whether it's because people aren't coming or because they feel that it's too expensive," he said.

The owner of a four-bedroom house in Port Shepstone, on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, last week reduced the rental on his home from R800 to R350 per person a day in the hope of finding tenants. "My family were prepared to move into a flat in the basement to accommodate the World Cup visitors. I am very disappointed that we've had no bookings for the house," he said.

Pretoria businessman Wessel du Preez slashed the rate for rooms at his lodge from R2500 to R900 per person a night after receiving no inquiries."I cannot believe that, at this stage, we don't have even one booking," he said.

John McIntyre, co-owner of Real-Net in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, said the uptake on private accommodation was very low.

Leon Steenkamp, MD for Next Level Group, a company that has been marketing properties internationally, said they had more than 1260 beds in private homes that had been paid for and booked."Obviously, we expected many more bookings." He said one of the problems was "greedy homeowners" who wanted to "make a killing"

The effect of rising inflation, petrol and food prices are hitting the eThekwini hospitality trade, with hotels in the greater Durban region losing 20 000 room nights - worth a conservative R15-million - in the first six months of this year, compared with last year.

See Story at http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_South%20Africa&set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20080828104213388C575891