2010 Soccer World Cup Travel Guide: Travel Awareness

Online, January 7, 2010 (Newswire.com) - 2010 Travel Guide: Travel Awareness and Match Schedule

South Africa is set to come alive with a spirit of soccer and patriotism when they host the first ever World Cup on African soil in 2010.

So, with Soccer World Cup in 2010 in South Africa just around the corner, we would like to create awareness around probable business travel restrictions during the months of June - July 2010.

In order to do this, we have compiled a 2010 travel guide and a 2010 match schedule to get you ahead in your travel plans and get you ready for what is going to be an exhilarating and thrilling event! You can also get acquainted with the 2010 match schedule, so you can plan your trip around the various rounds of games being played all over the country.

Stadia in South Africa that Will Host World Cup Soccer Matches in 2010
• Mbombela Stadium - Nelspruit
• Moses Mabhida Stadium - Durban
• Nelson Mandela Stadium - Port Elizabeth
• Cape Town Stadium - Cape Town
• Free State Stadium - Bloemfontein
• Soccer City Stadium - Johannesburg
• Ellis Park Stadium - Johannesburg
• Royal Bafokeng Stadium - Rustenburg
• Loftus Versfeld Stadium - Pretoria
• Peter Mokaba Stadium - Polokwane

2010 Travel Guide: Recommendations for travel in South Africa during 2010:
 Do not travel during the busy periods of June-July unless it is critical to travel.
 Plan your trip well in advance; changes to a ticket over this period will be extremely difficult and very expensive.
 Try to make appointments at a location that is in the opposite direction of a stadium / fan park.
 Take flights during the times games are taking place. Games start at 13h30.
 Allow for a minimum of 2 hours to get to the airport in Cape Town and possibly 3 hours for Johannesburg. The congestion on the roads both to and from the Airports is going to be chaotic - plan for delays.
 Parking at the airport will be virtually impossible and it is advisable to get someone to drop / collect you from the airport. Transfer companies will be busy with tourists and will also be very expensive.

2010 Travel Guide: Flights
 To date no airline has released any prices or strategies for the World Cup period.
 On pre and post match-days flights into and out of the venue cities will be overbooked.
 Due to the sheer volume of travellers, huge delays can be expected.

2010 Travel Guide: Accommodation
 All the major hotel brands within South Africa have contracted with MATCH at a pre-defined room rate and therefore the normal corporate rates will not be available during this period.
 According to FIFA there is an approximate shortfall of 18 000 rooms for the World Cup.
 This supply and demand scenario allows B&Bs / guesthouses to offer rooms at a premium.

Car Rental
 It is most likely that all car rental companies will go on "stop-sale" for the period of the World Cup and rental cars will be scarce.
 Although the official World Cup is 11 June - 11 July 2010, the period between March and July 2010 will be an exceptionally busy period with the pre- and post- arrangements that will have a huge impact on business travel.