The FIFA 2010 World Cup is to be held in South Africa from June 11 to July 11 2010, and the soccer equivalent of the Olympic Avoidance Effect has already hit South Africa hard, in sectors ranging from hunting safaris to wildlife-watching tours and business travel.

South Africa - Safari & FIFA World Cup

This FIFA Avoidance Effect has hit these different parts of the South African economy for different reasons, all linked to the June-July soccer fest.

Business travel for a 3-month duration before, during and after the World Cup will come to a complete standstill, as major companies stung by the recession have issued instructions banning trips to South Africa which coincide with the matches.

But the hunting industry, which raked in 1 billion Rand in 2008, looks to be the worst affected. The main hurdle is getting a firearm into South Africa – only some airlines allow it, and the rules in South Africa make it very difficult to obtain one locally.

The initial rush to book airline tickets for the World Cup last year meant that hunters found themselves unable to book airline tickets on a specific carrier at the usual price, if at all. By the time the rush wore out and prices came down again, the hunters had already moved on to book other destinations.

Also, hunters need to obtain a temporary gun license at the airport in South Africa when they arrive, a bureaucratic hassle which you really don’t want to go through while being overrun by thousands of soccer-crazy fans.

To make things worse, this is a seasonal industry. For every American hunting package lost during the summer vacation, South Africa loses around $30,000 (over $40,000 in the case of elephant hunts). There are 10,000 game-hunting farms in South Africa, and the industry employs 70,000 people.

On the other end, the World Cup has also scared off nature lovers. The number of bird-watching and wildlife tour groups have fallen to a bare minimum for June and July, and the number of people in each group has been halved.

South Africa’s loss, though, seems to be a big gain for Texas, which has a $14.4 billion hunting & fishing industry. Hunting and wildlife-watching alone contributes $4.63 billion and $5.12 billion respectively to the Texas economy.

At the annual convention of the Dallas Safari Club, an international organization whose main aim is to protect and preserve hunters’ rights, the general view was that Texas is benefiting because of reduced international travel.

The exotic game industry in Texas - where African and Asian game is farmed for hunting on ranches - is worth over $1.3 billion, and is now the fastest growing sector of the Texas farming industry. 

Hunting packages are booked one to two years in advance, and hassles in booking South African trips due to the World Cup, not to mention last year’s tough economic conditions, pushed hunters to book 2010 trips local – in Texas.

Remains to be seen if this has a lasting impact, or the hunters shift back to South Africa in 2011. Probably depends on how well the US economy fares this year, and whether or not South Africa comes up with some sort of post-World Cup campaign to lure back the hunters.

Jabulani photo by Lairn; elephant photo by exfordy