Large numbers of football fans are booking flights to South Africa ahead of the country’s hosting of the World Cup next summer.
This is according to ABTA – The Travel Association spokesperson Sean Tipton, who explained that the country is a traditionally popular tourist destination thanks to people booking holidays there and others visiting friends and family.
"There’s around about 650,000 [British tourists visiting South Africa] a year but with the World Cup, it is going to go through the roof next year," he said.
Mr Tipton went on to say that South Africa would be a favoured destination throughout the winter as warm temperatures arrive in the summer hemisphere.
The demand for flights to South Africa is huge ahead of the month-long tournament, which kicks off in Johannesburg on June 11th.
Skyscanner recently revealed that some return flights from the UK had reached as much as £4,887 – although much cheaper flights could still be found by mixing and matching airlines or taking indirect routes. (see: South Africa World Cup 2010 Flights).
The International Currency Exchange said earlier this month that orders for the South African rand had increased by 441 percent over the past year.