SAfrica WC2010 will have enough beds: tourism bodies

South African tourism bodies on Thursday said the 2010 World Cup host will have enough beds for visitors after FIFA boss Sepp Blatter said demand could out-strip availability.

“There are graded rooms to spare in South Africa and everybody who comes for the World Cup will find a place to stay easily,” said Moeketsi Mosola, CEO of South African Tourism.

The country has nearly 100,000 graded rooms, mostly around host cities, while FIFA needed 55,000, he said in a joint statement with the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa.

The football body had contracted some 28,000 rooms so far as some establishments chose to market themselves independently of the company services contracted by FIFA, the statement said.

In a four-day visit to South Africa in which he expressed confidence in the hosts, Blatter said there could be a shortage of hotel beds.