The independent accommodation survey conducted by capeinfo.com and endorsed by Cape Town Tourism, shows that reports on overpricing are based on perception rather than reality.
Spokesperson for Cape Town Tourism, Lianne Burton says, “This survey aims to distinguish perception from reality. The astronomical prices of luxury private villas on the ocean's edge are not a true representation of the cost of staying in Cape Town during the cup.
“We and our industry partners are committed to building the tourism sector and our members are critically aware that exploiting people during events like this undermines their own sustainability as it discourages repeat business.
“We are also encouraged that many of the businesses that were guilty of overpricing have now embraced our call and that of tourism stakeholders like FEDHASA to cap rates in the region of peak season levels during the event.”
In January, 31.63% of the respondents were charging the same price (or less) as they would in peak season. That has shifted to 57.37% in February. The survey also shows that 75.32% of establishments are currently charging no more than 20% above their peak season rates. Establishments who had received actual bookings were up from 34.61% in January to 46% in February.
The agency has also drafted a tourism code of responsible pricing for Cape Town. The code calls for a moderate approach to pricing, responsible peak season rates and mindfulness of tourism sustainability and transparency. Key tourism industry stakeholders, representatives and membership organisations will sign the code.
After attending the World Travel Market in London (Nov 2009) and finding that overpricing was a bigger issue for UK travellers than perceptions of safety and security in South Africa, Burton has reminded tourism business owners that cities such as Sydney and Athens experienced a decline in visitor numbers after their Olympic events, due to perceptions of 'greed'.
"We know that, in line with current travel trends internationally, there will still be a lot of last-minute bookings ahead of the World Cup but we cannot afford to be complacent and allow a skewed perception of pricing to turn a potentially positive experience into a highly negative one. We are on the tail end of a recession, one that hit America and Europe very hard. These are key FIFA World Cup source markets and they need a great value proposition, right now," concludes Burton.
Western Cape Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism Alan Winde, reiterated this view, stating, “We cannot afford to scupper our reputation as a value-for-money destination and must encourage the media and our industry to put out the positive message that there is a wide range of accommodation available at a reasonable price."
Using accredited portals will get establishments further than only advertising on their own websites. Cape Town Tourism will soon launch a dedicated section on its website (www.capetown.travel) where members who adopt responsible pricing strategies in line with the code, can advertise their accommodation offerings directly to prospective visitors.
The accommodation survey will continue to track changes in accommodation availability and pricing trends with monthly surveys until May. It can be completed on capeinfo.com.
