Confed visitors coming back for more

Johannesburg, So Africa – Findings of a survey commissioned by Cape Town Tourism (CTT) during the Confederations Cup reveal that visitors were happy with the proceedings of the tournament.

Johannesburg, So Africa – Findings of a survey commissioned by Cape Town Tourism (CTT) during the Confederations Cup reveal that visitors were happy with the proceedings of the tournament. An overwhelming majority of the respondents (63 percent) stated that they were returning for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, making the results of this research an accurate pilot study for the tournament next year.

The study was conducted in partnership with the University of Cape Town (UCT) and consisted of a survey of 323 respondents, most of whom were aged between 19 and 45 years (slightly more respondents fell in the range 19 to 29 years). Respondents were foreign tourists who were in South Africa to attend the games. Questionnaires were administered at the stadiums in various South African cities (Johannesburg, Pretoria, Rustenburg and Bloemfontein), as well as at major hotels in Johannesburg where foreign tourists were staying at the time.

Of respondents, 48 percent were found to have made use of rented cars while in South Africa, while 10 percent of foreign tourists stated they had made use of minibus taxis. However, far too few respondents felt safe using public transport in Johannesburg.

โ€œThis is a primary concern for the country to address before the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Nevertheless, the introduction of the Rapid Bus Transport System as well as other public transport developments like the Gautrain, should improve safety perceptions of public transport in South Africa,โ€ said the organization in a release.

When asked what aspect outside the Confederations Cup had attracted them to South Africa, 71 percent were most attracted by South Africaโ€™s culture, history and natural beauty. In another question allowing multiple responses, it was surprising to find that only 15 percent of respondents believed โ€œValue for Moneyโ€ to be an attractive aspect of South Africa.

As expected, most respondents (53 percent) made use of the Internet to plan their trip to South Africa. Cape Town Tourism has found this to be true, with unprecedented hits since the launch of its 2010 mini-site, capetown.travel/2010.

Most of the respondents stayed in South Africa for fourteen days. Of the 323 respondents surveyed, only one said he would not recommend South Africa as a holiday destination, 4 percent of the respondents said โ€œMaybeโ€, as they had not yet been in South Africa long enough to give a definite โ€œYesโ€ or โ€œNoโ€ answer and had not been able to see enough of the rest of the country.

Of the foreign tourists surveyed, 52 percent planned to visit Cape Town during their stay. The average duration of their stay in the Mother City was expected to be 5,66 days. The majority of respondents were found to be staying in Cape Town city centre or City Bowl.

Commenting on the findings of the survey, Cape Town Tourism, CEO, Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, said the results revealed some interesting demographics. โ€œMuch of what we foresaw is true but we are pleased to hear that most respondents had an overwhelmingly positive experience of South Africa and plan to return in 2010. This survey is a task list โ€“ a benchmark to help us perfect our game.โ€

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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