The survey included 722 tourists, interviewed in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria and investigated perceptions of the various elements of the South African experience, including roads, accommodation, stadia, policing and safety, amongst others.
"Post World Cup press has been very positive about the success of the tournament and its implications for tourism and foreign investment. It is very pleasing to see our survey confirming this view," states Beatrice Kubheka, Managing Director of African Response. "African Response has been tracking the perceptions of readiness leading up to the 2010 World Cup since 2006 and witnessed doubt slowly becoming confidence the closer we got. But having 92% of visitors saying that they would recommend South Africa as a destination is more than we bargained for and is great news for our future."
Those whose stay lasted between a week and two had a slightly higher tendency to recommend SA - at 94%. However, propensity to recommend SA to friends or family was as high as 92% amongst those tourists who were staying in the country for over a month.
Asked if they themselves would return, an overwhelming 96% of visitors said there is a possibility that they would and the remainder (4%) said that they would prefer to visit somewhere they have never been before.
Length of stay: A third of the World Cup visitors were staying in SA for more than a month, while 48% indicated they were would be here between 2 - 4 weeks. Only 13% were here for between 1 and 2 weeks and only 4% under a week.
Stadiums get thumbs upRespondents were asked to rate a number of elements contributing to the overall experience they had in South Africa. Our
stadia were undoubtedly rated the highest with 87% of respondents rating their perception and experience at the stadiums as "excellent" or "very good." Tourists interviewed in Joburg gave the highest rating at 91% - no doubt a result of the impressive Soccer City, while those interviewed in Durban and Cape Town gave the stadia 84% and 78% respectively.
Of the tourists interviewed, 94% attended live matches at the stadiums. The majority of them (37%) attended more than 5 matches. Only 8% attended only one match with 54% attending between 2 and 4 matches live.
"There was no significant different in stadia rating amongst those who had attended many games versus those who had attended only one," stated Kubheka. "This is good news as it means that a consistently high standard was maintained across the tournament."
The guests identified
public transport and
nightlifeas the areas in most need of improvement. Public transport was rated excellent or good by only 54% of tourists, and nightlife by only 58%. The nightlife was least impressive in Durban, according to our guests.
Joburg residents will be pleased to notice that tourists interviewed in the Jo'burg gave the highest ratings across almost all of the attributes mentioned, whereas Cape town impressed tourists on the perception of safety and Durban on their policing and security at the games. "This may be due to the fact that approximately 75% of the World Cup activity happened in and around Joburg, meaning visitors were more familiar with this city," states Kubheka.
About the surveyThis survey was conducted using a face-to -face intercept method with 722 tourists who had travelled to South Africa for the purposes of the 2010 World Cup. Respondents were interviewed in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria between the dates of 11 June 2010 - 13 July 2010.
About African ResponseAfrican Response is the most empowered, black owned, black managed research agency in South Africa. Established in an equity relationship with Synovate we offer a full complement of research skills.
African Response prides itself upon an exceptional ability to understand and interpret the needs of the South African black urban and rural consumer. We offer clients customised qualitative and quantitative research, innovative ideas and practical solutions. African Response's vision is to significantly improve clients' business performance and to achieve excellence through utilisation of the wide knowledge and experience of our partners.
More information can be found at
www.africanresponse.co.za.
