By Thandiwe Mthethwa and Barbara Cole
It will be shortsighted of the tourism industry to hike prices to unreasonable levels during the World Cup next year, according to SA Tourism.
Media reports this week quoted Comair executive manager Yasas Sri-Chandana as saying passengers should not book tickets during the World Cup weeks as the airline was employing "punitive rates to discourage people from travelling then. It's a discouragement price increase".
In response, SA Tourism acting chief executive Didi Moyle said the World Cup month (June/July) was usually the low point of the year of the industry, but next year it would become a high season.
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"This is an added boost... The big bonus of hosting the biggest sports event in the world is to give our visitors a fantastic time and for them to understand what good value for money South Africa is, so that they will want to come back and tell their friends to visit the country in years to come.
"If they feel ripped off and unwelcome, we will undo the massive investment our country has made and damage our travel and tourism industry for years to come."
Enya Fehler, the owner of tourism marketing company Africa Adventure, agreed that price hikes would create a negative impression among tourists and discourage them from returning.
Comair spokeswoman Heidi Brauer said yesterday that the airline was not substantially raising its fares and was seeking a retraction from media outlets that had said that it was.
"We have not made any statement and have no intention of discouraging passengers from flying individually in 2010.
"Our executive director was quoted out of context and we are seeking a retraction from the involved media because it is totally untrue."
The pricing for tickets would depend on the supply and demand factor "as usual", and the flight schedule would be prepared and released once the official tournament schedule was released in December, she added.
The airline would schedule as many flights as it could to meet the demands for the World Cup, Brauer said.
SAA spokeswoman Vimla Maistry said domestic fare pricing wouldn't change during the World Cup period.
The airline had a limited number of seats available on European and other international routes during the World Cup period, and only higher fare classes were available, she added.
All other fare classes would be made available in the coming months once the venues for the games had been announced.
"There will be added focus on domestic routes where matches will be played," she said.
- This article was originally published on page 3 of Daily News on October 30, 2009
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