Packages for the 2010 Soccer World Cup will go on sale in South Africa in June, sales agent Match Hospitality announced on Wednesday.
”We want to give priority to the domestic market,” the company’s chief operating officer, Pascal Portes, said at the launch of the hospitality programme in Johannesburg.
The sale of packages to the rest of the world would start in September through a network of appointed sales agents, he said.
Packages for the 64 matches in ten different stadiums would cost the same price and be subject to the same terms and conditions worldwide.
In the next three months any companies or individuals interested in packages could obtain more information or register on the Match Hospitality website.
Anyone registered would be contacted when public sales started, Portes said.
The exclusive sales agents for South African and sub-Saharan Africa are Circa Hospitality, a SAIL group company, and Warwick Hospitality and Events, a Primedia Sport company, he said.
Match Hospitality and the local organising committee presented the hospitality programme to the local business community — including sponsors — at Melrose Arch on Wednesday.
Describing the magnitude of the hospitality programme for the ”biggest event in the world” as ”huge”, Portes said the company would have a lot of partners and would give priority to domestic partners.
In the past financial year alone, 37% of the local organising committee’s budget had been spent on small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), said its chief operating officer, Danny Jordaan.
It aimed to spend 30% of its total budget on SMMEs, he said.
Apart from this contribution to the country’s economy, it was expected that the World Cup would drive tourism and investment in South Africa, he reiterated.
Portes said there would be five hospitality packages on sale at an average price of $1 450 each.
The packages included a Big Six Series costing $1 750 a person, a Gauteng Series at between $1 400 and $1 750, a Venue Series for $380 to $1 400, a Follow Your Team Series for $1 500 to $1 750 and a Final Round Series for $3 500 to $6 000.
The hospitality packages would consist of not just tickets to matches, but flights, accommodation, transport, and tours, among other things. — Sapa