The audit was undertaken by the department, in co-operation with stakeholders from the nine provinces, the Tourism Grading Council, SA Tourism, the private sector and Match, Fifa's official hospitality service provider, to manage the official accommodation solution for the World Cup.
 

Van Schalkwyk said the wide-ranging nature of the process had ensured that every establishment, both graded and not, was identified.

"The accommodation database is a product we can be very proud of, and the strategy we have developed for its future use will be to the advantage of the entire tourism industry. The more than 202 000 rooms should make ample provision for the 450 000 visitors."

 

 

The audit found that:

• There are at least 18 882 accommodation establishments in South Africa, 7 492 of which are graded, and 11 390 which are not.
• There are at least 202 712 rooms in the country, 107 119 of which are graded, with 95 593 not graded.
• There are at least 7 520 accommodation establishments in host cities (within a 50km radius of the stadiums).
• There are 100 853 rooms in host cities.

 

The 202 000 available rooms includes the 55 000 rooms required by Match.

The accommodation database will form the basis of the booking portal, said Van Schalkwyk.

All establishments on the database would be pre-registered, and establishments not listed could register with Fedhasa. The portal served as a tool for accommodation service providers to market themselves internationally.

"I would like to call on all accommodation establishments to verify their details by the end of January 2010, and to use the facility to assist them with the sale of all available rooms," said Van Schalkwyk.

"This database and booking portal creates a legacy that puts South Africa in a better position to maximise future tourism revenues and growth."

The web address for the accommodation and booking portal is www.Rooms4U.travel.

The new contact centre, which was also launched on Tuesday, allows visitors to make bookings 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Sindiswa Nhlumayo, tourism's deputy director-general, said the call centre would serve customers in seven languages.

"It will serve visitors in English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch and Portuguese," she said.

"Visitors and locals will have access to a wide range of accurate and up-to-date information about accommodation, safety and security, services, restaurants and routes."

Jaime Byrom, Match's executive chairperson, said very few countries in the world had such a database. The call centre number is (+27) 87 803 4636