Another Take on Ticket Situation

The version of the story that appeared in the Johannesburg Times is more interested in which tickets aren't sold, rather than how many.

And this may be the more interesting way to look at this.

Instead of focusing on the "800,000 of 2.9 million tickets haven't been sold," the AP version of the story that the Times ran singles out a dropoff in VIP-level tickets.

And the demand for those is half of what Fifa and organizers expected.

Not selling the expensive tickets is an issue because the profit margin is so much higher, as the story points out.

A Fifa spokesman blamed it on the economy, saying the past year "was the worst year to sell hospitality programs," suggesting it impacted sales by 50 percent. But the AP writer also makes note of the important point of the cost of getting to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, and the cost of staying there. "Price gouging" is the expression. Plus, fears that South Africa isn't safe.

Oh, and another stat I'm not sure the London Telegraph story we linked to yesterday had:

Jerome Valcke, Fifa's man, suggested that South Africa will get perhaps 350,000 tourists instead of the 450,000 it expected.

So we stand by our suggestion yesterday that the prices for housing (especially) and air travel may be about to take a dive.

Hang tight. Wait for the bargain. A gap of 100,000 fans opens up a lot of seats on jumbo jets, and a lot of hotel rooms.