Addo Elephant National Park part of 2010 plans
22. May, 2009
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Accommodation at Addo Elephant National Park forms part of SANParks’ plans around the 2010 FIFA World Cup, due to take place in South Africa in June 2010. Speaking at the South Africa’s premier tourism showcase, Indaba held last week at the iNkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban, SANParks’ Managing Executive Tourism and Marketing, Glenn Phillips said that SANParks is on track to deliver the goods. Phillips said he hoped this message would give confidence to those sceptical that South Africa is ready for the hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
According to Phillips, SANParks’ plans for the tournament are based on three principles which will ensure a sustainable business way beyond the World Cup. “At the onset our strategy is all about sustainable development, secondly we would like to see optimal occupancy in all national parks over the event period, and key to this is the retention of our committed client base as the event falls during the extended school holidays.”
“It is against this background that we took a decision to contract according to the 30 percent principle and 70 percent will be reserved for the general public.”
30% of the accommodation in Addo Elephant National Park’s main camp has been reserved for use during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
He said the “The exciting part with 2010 is that approximately 15 000 people will be introduced to the national parks. We want to use this event to optimize marketing opportunities, while we continue to build our brand.”
Phillips went on to mention the details of the contract with MATCH, a professional services company selected by FIFA to provide ticketing, accommodation and event information technology during the 2010 World Cup event in South Africa.
“If all goes according to plan, it means the value of inventory sold to MATCH per day is in the region of R1.4 million and this over the event period will amount to an impressive R 52.5 million based on two people per unit inclusive of dinner, bed and breakfast and activity.”
Other contracted parks, chosen for their proximity to the World Cup matches, are Kruger National Park, Garden Route National Park (which incorporates formerly Wilderness, Tsitsikamma and the Knysna Lake Area), Marakele and Golden Gate Highlands National Parks.
Kruger National Park has dedicated three of its camps to the event: Skukuza, Berg en Dal and Pretoriuskop. New mobile tented products within the three camps at Kruger National Parks will also be utilized. This will add an additional 420 beds to the inventory contacted for 2010. “The tents will be used as a conduit to address the legacy issue – as they will be used to provide additional inventory to parks in other locations around the country that lack sufficient accommodation inventory during high season or specific events such as the flower season in Namaqua National Park,” said Phillips.
My name is Muzi Mohale a full-time travel blogger, your host at Travelwires.com responsible for all editorial on this blog. I blog about the travel and tourism industry in Africa. Apart from blogging about tourism, I also run 
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