17 MAY: A leading South African hotelier has warned NZ hotels against Rugby World Cup price-gouging, saying "aggressive" pricing was a reason why his country attracted fewer-than-expected fans to last year’s FIFA World Cup.
South Africa initially forecast the event would draw 450,000 visitors. But the final figure was closer to 300,000.
Clive Bennett, md of a 5-star hotel on the Cape Town waterfront, is quoted by the NZ Herald newspaper as saying: "Don’t get too aggressive on the room rates. That is a mistake a lot of people made in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics and here in South Africa last year.
"People think that for these global events you can push rates through the stratosphere. But you just end up alienating people.
"One of the reasons we were so far down on visitor numbers (during the FIFA World Cup) was, in my view, price.
"There were so many people in the chain and everyone tried to take their cut. But when it went to market, people couldn’t afford it".
The Herald says one Auckland motel has lifted its nightly rate 1000% for the NZ September/October tournament and some homeowners are asking up to $NZ500 a night
