If you haven’t got your World Cup ticket yet, prices are falling
Helen Nianias

Fans who thought they had missed the chance to say “I was there” as England won their first football World Cup for 40 years still have the chance — to go to South Africa, at least.

Hundreds of tickets for England’s group matches are still on sale as travel companies announced that they had slashed the price of packages. Fewer than half of the expected 50,000 England fans are expected to travel and prices could tumble even further.

Thomas Cook packages for Slovenia v England in Port Elizabeth on June 23 were originally £3,250 but have been cut to less than half price at £1,397. Trips to England’s game against Algeria in Cape Town on June 18, which will be watched by Princes William and Harry, were expected to be slashed to £1,199, less than half the price of the original £2,775 package.

Thompson Sport has packages available, including tickets for the final in Johannesburg on July 11. The company also had trips for England’s opening match against the United States on June 12, and the match against Slovenia. Both four-night packages include internal flights and match tickets and include four-star accommodation.

Hotel prices have also been slashed in the cities hosting England’s games. Sportsworld, the corporate travel specialists, is selling its accommodation to regular ticketholders, giving ordinary fans a third off some hotel prices.

Peter Smith, flights expert at TravelSupermarket.com, said that prices for travel and hotels in South Africa during the World Cup have been reduced. “There is a potential for further price drops, or we may see companies coming out with aggressive marketing for their packages,” he said. “We expect a little surge from the type of consumers who drop everything and go.”

Match-day hospitality packages are still available from Match, Fifa’s official ticketing company. These include four-person packages for between $550 (£377) up to $1,500.

Peter Csanadi, head of marketing at Match, said: “If somebody wants an England match in hospitality, they have to speed up because demand is big, not necessarily from England but the many tens of thousands of English people who live in South Africa.”

The World Cup organisers had expected 750,000 foreign fans but it is is now estimated that only 200,000 visitors are heading to South Africa. Fifa put 160,000 tickets up for sale on Thursday morning after sponsors returned thousands of unwanted seats.



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7142204.ece