Hoteliers cry foul as rooms remain empty (News Feature)

By Peter Mayer and Peter Auf der Heyde Jun 10, 2010, 15:03 GMT

Johannesburg - Football fans arriving in South Africa were not only greeted by vuvuzela-blowing locals, they were also met by placard-bearing guesthouse owners trying to lure them to their establishments.

Giles Frampton, who runs the Thatch Lodge in Germiston, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, is one of them.

Promising football fans luxury accommodation at affordable prices, Frampton stands at the arrival hall of the OR Tambo airport.

'I decided not to go with the company that was officially working for FIFA for accommodation. I did not like the terms and conditions that they were offering,' he said.

The company, called Match, has come under criticism from all quarters over the way it has handled the accommodation issue in the run up to the June 11 - July 11 World Cup.

'I am practically full. Just a few days here and there,' he says, adding: 'Virtually all of my visitors I have secured by self- advertising at the airport.'

He said that he believed there were more accommodation offers than fans looking for rooms. 'There must have been 20 or so of us offering accommodation.'

He said that he had increased his prices by no more than 15 per cent, charging 69 dollars per night. 'There are some guesthouses that have tripled their prices, I think that is crazy, but I do not really want to comment beyond that.'

Frampton, who bought tickets to some matches and was due to attend Friday's opening game between France and hosts South Africa, said that he currently had Mexicans, Australians, Germans and a lone English fan staying in his lodge.

'The vibe is just terrific. Everybody is sitting around and enjoying themselves. In fact, I am on my way out now to fetch beers for them.'

Match, which is associated with a nephew of FIFA president Joseph Blatter, has been severely criticised in South Africa with several hotels and guest houses complaining that the company had made them many promises, but had kept few.

The owner of an upmarket bed and breakfast in Johannesburg, who did not want to be named, said that she would certainly not have signed with the company had she known how things would turn out.

'They made many, many promises and kept very few. They also returned rooms very late, so that there was no opportunity to try to sell them elsewhere.

'I know of places that have invested heavily in bringing their rooms up to the standard that Match required, but now they have lost everything without getting any compensation.

Danie Van Vuuren, owner of Akuwaiseni Place of Rest Guest House in Johannesburg, says he and other hotel owners are angry at FIFA for cancelling bookings just a week before the World Cup is due to start.

FIFA is refusing to pay any deposit charge after they first booked all my 270 rooms, then two months ago they cancelled 100, a month later another 100 and then on Sunday they cancelled the remaining 70. And I have heard similar stories from other owners,' said Van Vuuren, whose hotel is situated in Auckland Park a 10 minute drive from the Soccer City Stadium.

He said that since the FIFA cancellations he has been able to fill 70 per cent of his rooms by advertising on other non-FIFA linked websites.

The situation in other cities is not much different, with Cape Town expecting an occupancy rate of 60 per cent, while Durban is expecting even lower with less than 40 per cent of rooms booked.