Fifa World Cup RSA

The two rest days in the World Cup are just what South Africa needs to catch its breath, take a step back and do some self examination. With three quarters of the 32 teams out of the country, including the big names of England, USA, Italy and France, it's an ideal opportunity to see how the tourism industry has profited so far.

A year ago, FIFA was anticipating half a million foreigners to invade the southern tip of Africa for the tournament. That figure was revised down to 450 000, down again to 400,000 and finally settled at 350,000 as a result of the global economic meltdown and poor ticket sales. The majority of tickets sold outside South Africa went to people in the USA, with Europe next, and tickets sold to people in other African countries were at a disappointing low.