June 10- As the FIFA World Cup is all set to begin in South Africa tomorrow, demand from the UAE for travel to the country remains low. Experts said fans do not want to go see the world cup with the steep price of Dh72,000 for a package. Around 30,000 premium match tickets are still unsold by sponsors which shows that people have yet to recover from the recession.
One of the most popular FIFA packages is being offered by Emirates Airline that includes airfare, accommodation and transport along with match tickets. According to the airline’s website, almost every package from the UAE has been sold out with the airline operating additional flights from Cape Town and Johannesburg on July 12 and 13. The airline has also added a service to Durban. “We are seeing a lot of demand from places like Brazil and also from the United States, where interest in soccer has grown tremendously in the last few years," said Nigel Page, Emirates' Senior Vice-President for North America and Africa.
Emirates also has a code-sharing agreement with South African Airways that has increased seat numbers by 77,000, to 1.87 million.